A 16-court badminton facility and two landscaping businesses are slated for the commercial district on Ayer Road. The two landscaping firms will make for five such firms in the commercial district, joining Kennedy and Company, Three Seasons Landscaping, and Chestnut Tree and Landscape.
At 203 Ayer Road, just north of Route 2, workers are preparing the site for a 33,381-square-foot badminton facility. They are replicating wetland to replace a previously filled-in area, working under a permit from the Conservation Commission and the state’s Department of Environmental Protection. The site is also approved for two other buildings, a 15,000-square-foot commercial space with several apartments and an 8,000-square-foot commercial building.
The Planning Board granted three special permits for the project in June 2023, valid for one year. This week, developer and landowner Lou Russo told the Press the site work is for the badminton building only. The development abuts the multifamily overlay district approved by Town Meeting April 6, which includes the other part of the 203 Ayer Road property, plus 185 and 187 Ayer Road.
Across the road at #184, workers are clearing land, with a permit, for parking spaces for CS Bailey Landscaping. The Arlington-based firm offers construction for landscaping projects and for landscape design and maintenance. An office will occupy the first floor of the existing house; equipment will be stored behind it.
Heading toward Ayer, and across the road from Harvard Outdoor Power Equipment, a home improvement and construction firm plans to create a “satellite facility” for its landscaping business, according to the firm’s attorney. Bespoke Contracting’s main office is in Belmont and its other satellite location is in Bedford. The Harvard business will be to the rear of an existing, recently renovated two-family home at 288 Ayer Road. The Planning Board has not yet granted a special permit to Bespoke and will hold another hearing May 6.
