A proposed logistics center in Hudson, which would bring 2,500 jobs to the area, could be up and running as soon as 2021.

HUDSON – The first public hearing on the proposed Hudson Logistics Center is scheduled for next week, and neighbors living nearby are raising a number of concerns.

The town Planning Board is hosting the meeting at 7 p.m. on May 27 at the Hudson Community Center located at 12 Lions Ave. A Dallas, Texas based development firm, Hillwood Investment Properties, is aiming to construct three high-tech distribution facilities on the Green Meadow Golf Club property, which in the end would result in roughly 2.6 million square feet of warehouse space. If all the necessary approvals are granted, this site would become the state’s largest logistics center.

Town Planner Brian Groth said the approach for this meeting will be to offer people the option of attending physically or to participate remotely. People can provide written comments as well. Officials are working with the fire department and the health safety officer to organize the meeting space to meet Center for Disease Control and Prevention guidelines for distancing.

“We will ensure all those safety measures are in place, as needed,” Groth said.

Groth imagines the meeting will be more of a macro-level view with the notion that later meetings will get into the fine details. While this is a very detailed process, things are at the beginning of the process, and Groth said the town is going to make sure the community has plenty of opportunity to have their questions and comments addressed. Additionally, Groth already has been receiving feedback from folks in the community, hearing from those both in support and against the project.

“The largest volume of comments that I’ve received are concerns from the abutting neighborhood,” Groth said. “They’re concerned over the impacts this project will have on their neighborhood, and that’s something of our concern as well.”

Groth added that the applicants in the proposal need to mitigate the impacts they may have on the neighboring community. The plans for the logistics center include minimizing the impacts of noise and light for those living in close proximity to the site on Fairway Drive and Eagle Drive by creating a 200-foot buffer. This includes screening, trees, bushes and other landscaping and buffering features.

“We are projected to put over $300 million of investment into the property,” Vice President of Development with Hillwood Justin Dunn previously told The Telegraph.

However, he also said that this $300 million is mostly building construction and that when getting into site work, utilities, traffic mitigation and things of that nature, that number is going to be substantially higher.

However, some people living near the golf course have a number of concerns, including Jim Dobens who raised five key points he believes need to be addressed. One is addressing the buffering with the residential zones. Dobens does not believe it makes sense to only have the 200-foot buffer zone for buildings of this size, explaining that it needs to be pushed back at least 1,000 to 1,200 feet.

Secondly, he is concerned with the facility entrance and exit, citing how Lowell Road cannot handle this type of additional traffic. Third, he believes the proposed buildings need to be positioned closer to the Sagamore Bridge to allow for the buffering to exist.

“There’s almost 400 acres of land out there,” Dobens said. “They can find the right location and the right angles to put these facilities away from the overall residential areas so they’re kind of out of sight out of mind, even though they’re not.”

His other two concerns include the operational hours of this logistics center and the impact the project will have on the environment and wildlife. Dobens said he is wondering and questioning whether people in town truly understand the magnitude and scope of what is going in at this site. He describes this as, “a battle for Hudson’s quality of life.”

“This is a project that’s going to cause massive disruption,” Dobens said.

Paul Groleau and Scott Wade also live in the neighborhood and share similar concerns. Groleau said they also have had conversations with others living in the neighborhood.

“We have people using words like ‘what happens if they put this thing in here and we cannot live with the noise,'” Groleau said.

He further explained that if people living in the neighborhood cannot sleep at night, live with the noise or with the pollution, how anyone can possibly sell their home? Additionally, Groleau also raised concerns about damage to roadways with various trucks and logistics center employees utilizing them.

According to the Hudson Logistics Center website, approximately 150 to 200 tractor trailers and 35 to 50 box trucks will likely travel to and from the site every day. In addition, the center will be open 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Hillwood is looking at construction to take about a year, with hopes of opening the center in fall 2021.

Moreover, Wade was interested in replacing his deck in the back of his house, although now he is waiting on undertaking that project because he does not want to put more money into his house if it becomes devalued.

“If anybody here eventually wants to sell their home, they have to combat that,” Wade said.

Even to list a home in the neighborhood now, Wade explained, the seller would have to disclose that this logistics center is being discussed. Then, if and when it is built, the seller will have to find people who are willing to live next to it, which may require dropping the price of the home considerably, Wade further explained.

“It’s not just our neighborhood, it’s going to affect all of Hudson eventually,” Wade said.