Another chance

Billerica -

Proponents of a plan for a religious temple along the shores of the Concord River will return in the hopes of garnering approval, after the plan faced resistance over concerns about flooding and the protection of wetlands in a battle that has gone on for more than 10 years.

 The proponents, Om Temple Inc., want to build a temple sandwiched between lower Boston Road and the Concord River in North Billerica.

A hearing is set for Monday, Feb. 26 at 7 p.m. in the Maurice Buck Auditorium at Town Hall.

While the plans call for the temple to be built within the flood plain, the commission only needs to grant a variance for part of the access road and part of the drainage system that falls within a 50-foot buffer zone from wetlands, said Conservation Director Martin Houlne.

Houlne said that the plans submitted to the commission indicate the building would be raised above the ground, but that the parking lot is built in an area that will be subject to flooding.

“In the state and local regulations, there are performance standards that developers are supposed to meet,” Houlne said adding that the commission expects developers to avoid constructing within 100 feet of the banks of the Concord River.

Proponents last came before the commission in 2005, but commissioners asked proponents to resubmit due to discrepancies in the plan. They also voiced concerns about the proposed temple’s proximity to the river bank.

That same year, the Board of Heath granted a variance to build within the flood plain, but Houlne believes proponents will need to go back to the board for a modification hearing to update their permit.  

Many meetings on the project brought out several neighbors, who had concerns about some of the drainage structures outlined in the proposal causing more flooding to the area, as well as light pollution.

In previous hearings, proponents have described as the temple a “a non-sectarian church that aims to bridge the gap between knowledge and religion,” and that does not focus on a particular religion.

Temple proponents had said in the past that they would like to build near the river in accordance with the idea of river as a symbol of life.