Moderna submits campus‑wide site plan package; board grants procedural waivers and continues substantive review to March 24
Summary
Moderna presented a campus‑wide site plan consolidating multiple interim projects across its roughly 44‑acre Norwood campus; the Planning Board approved procedural waivers for the consolidated filing and continued substantive review to March 24 to allow staff to resolve outstanding technical comments.
Moderna representatives told the Norwood Planning Board on Feb. 24 that they had prepared a campus‑wide site‑plan package that documents multiple changes made since 2016 and consolidates prior, piecemeal approvals across the company’s campus.
David (Dave) Maxwell of Kelly Engineering and Josh Ames, associate director for environment, health and safety at Moderna, described the submission as an effort to bring the 44‑acre campus into one comprehensive filing after a sequence of building renovations, security upgrades, temporary modular structures and utility projects during and after the pandemic. The campus inventory includes four primary building complexes (referred to in the submission as MTC South/Building 100, MTC North/Building 200, MTC East/Building 400 and the Forbes Mansion) and many ancillary improvements.
Moderna said it has purchased campus parcels from Alexandria Realty and documented landscaping and tree inventories for maintained areas (the consultant reported an inventory of specimen plantings and trees in manicured areas; forested uplands were not inventoried). The applicant told the board that overall impervious area across the campus is not substantially greater than in 2016 and that some projects added modern stormwater treatment and infiltration features; the consultant reported about 26,000 square feet less impervious area when compared to an earlier condition, though staff asked for documentation and confirmation in revised plan sheets.
Several departments submitted comments: the building inspector asked the applicant to demonstrate Americans with Disabilities Act (AAB) compliance and to show the distribution of accessible stalls; the fire department raised access, fire‑service connection and signage questions; and conservation and planning staff requested final landscaping details and clarification on river‑rock uses and recently removed planting islands near security kiosks.
Moderna asked the board for a set of application waivers (sheet size and several application requirements) to avoid having to re‑file extensive architectural exhibits for what the company described as a documentation and consolidation filing. The board voted to grant the requested waivers for application requirements (a roll call recorded affirmative votes from those present), following planning staff’s recommendation that the waivers be issued for this consolidated application.
Because staff and multiple departments had outstanding review comments, the Planning Board agreed to continue the matter to March 24 to allow revised plans and responses. Planning staff requested that the applicant provide a revised parking table showing compliance per building and per lot, confirmation of ADA‑accessible stall locations, the proposed guard‑signage and fire‑department connection clarifications, and drainage documentation. Moderna representatives said they would provide the requested information and work with building, fire and conservation staff prior to the continued hearing.
Meeting excerpts and planning staff notes show the campus includes multiple recent projects such as a campuswide security project (gates and kiosk changes), utility upgrades and an electrical‑service/EV charger project. The board and staff agreed the consolidated filing will be useful going forward but asked Moderna to return with clarified plans that address the specific departmental comments and to provide updated plan sheets to planning staff ahead of the March 24 meeting.
