Somerset town meeting will be asked to rezone Wilbur School property

SOMERSET — The Planning Board voted last Tuesday to give a positive recommendation at the Annual Town Meeting on an article that will ask voters to rezone property at 861 Brayton Point Road from residential to business.

The property is where the former Wilbur School building is located. The former school building property has almost 4 [1/2] acres of land with 300 feet of frontage. The building has a little over 23,000 square feet of space. Developer Alex Stylos is planning to renovate space in the building into 15 apartments that will be anywhere from 850 to 1,500 square feet each. But he is also planning to include some businesses that would fit in with the apartments and the rest of the area.

Attorney Peter Saulino, who was representing Stylos, said making the Wilbur School property a business zone, would expand a current business zone in the southerly direction. Stylos said the business zone would be moved over one lot from a gas station so that he can properly develop the Wilbur School property. He is looking at developing the center section of the school building, which was used for the gym, cafeteria, kitchen and stage of the school, into some type of business. He said he would also like to add commercial space to the property.

Planning Board member Richard Fenstermaker asked if any abutters have made any comments about rezoning the property from residential to business. Planning Board Chairman Gary Simons and Planning Board member Timothy Turner both said they have not received any comments from abutters about the proposed rezoning. Planning Board member Timothy Turner said there was not a requirement to notify Planning Board members of the hearing.

Daniel Aguiar, the engineer representing Stylos, noted the other businesses near the area that include the gas station, Roger's Family Restaurant, a salon and others that are around the Route 103 and Brayton Point Road intersection. Aguiar said rezoning the Wilbur School property would not make it an isolated business zone. He said it would be in line with the current business zone in the area.

Aguiar said rezoning the property to business will also help Stylos to preserve the school building, rather than demolish it, which is what town officials and the neighborhood wanted.

Stylos said he offered a time for the public to tour the building and ask questions about what he was going to be doing with it. He said he has not heard any comments about the project since that time. Stylos said there is a hair salon building in the area that also used to be a school.

Fenstermaker asked if there have been issues with traffic on Brayton Point Road. Stylos said drivers feel safe when they turn onto the Wilbur School property.

Stylos said he was asked by someone at the Town Office Building if he could put a camera on his property to monitor the traffic and he agreed to do it. He said he does not think the road traffic will affect his project.

Planning Board member Timothy Turner said Stylos has a good plan for the property. He said developing the Wilbur School property has been a long time in the making. The Wilbur School was built in 1928. The building was closed as a school in 2014. Since that time, there has been interest in making the property into a christian school, a nursing school and veterans' housing. The Recreation Department has used the property for its summer program. Stylos purchased the property from the town in 2018.

The Annual Town Meeting is currently scheduled for May 18, but could be delayed, depending on the governor's stay-at-home advisory and the state of emergency because of the coronavirus pandemic.