Fresh Proposal for Crossroads Site

The developer whose proposal for a gas station, convenience store and drive-thru donut shop on the former site of the Crossroads Restaurant at The Weirs was rejected by the Planning Board last month will return to the board Monday with a revised plan for the site.

Concord attorney Jim Bianco, who represents Weirs Boulevard Realty Trust (WBRT), has written to Planning Director Shana Hallas-Burt asking the board to consider a fresh proposal designed to overcome the misgivings that prompted it to reject the original project. The board objected to the intense use planned for the site at the intersection of Weirs Boulevard and Route 11B, which it found would exacerbate the already severe traffic problems at what has been called "dysfunction junction." There was also concern about placing a fueling station so close to the municipal water supply.

The new proposal eliminates the drive-thru donut shop, reducing the project to the gas station and convenience store. Moreover, the size of the convenience store would be shrunk from 3,500 square feet to 3,000 square feet. The store would be built in a "colonial style," sided with clapboards, topped with a shingled hip roof and crowned by a "quaint cupola." Bianco explained that the developer was able to address the "intensity of use" because "a major oil company has expressed interest in occupying the site."

The plan also includes a revised traffic pattern that would eliminate the median strip originally proposed and reconfiguring the intersection of Weirs Boulevard and Route 11B as a roundabout. WBRT would "contribute its pro rata share of the city's one-third share of the cost of the roundabout," Bianco wrote.

The board has scheduled a design review of the proposal, the outcome of which will determine whether WBRT makes a formal application to proceed with the project.