East Wareham residents made their voices heard last Wednesday at the first of many hearings on a proposed jet ski repair shop on Cranberry Highway.

Richard Mann, property owner at 3166 Cranberry Highway, went before the Zoning Board of Appeals along with Bradley Bertolo, an engineer from Wareham-based JC Engineering.

Mann plans to build a 50 x 100 foot steel building with five bays for repairing jet skis. Currently on the lot is a residential home as well as a two-story commercial/residential building -- Seakers, a boutique secondhand furniture store. Mann plans to leave the existing buildings and build the shop on the vacant area west of them.

Mann bought the property in 2000 and previously ran a jet ski repair shop there. He then sold the property in 2006 but recently came back into ownership of it last year.

Residents at the meeting raised concerns that people utilizing the shop would dramatically increase traffic on adjacent residential streets such as Choctaw Drive and Cohasset Road --which is directly connected to the lot in the proposed site plans.

The proposal calls for 12 parking spots in front of the repair bays, but Zoning Board members took issue with the configuration of the lot and the size of the building. Zoning Board member Mary Scarsciotti said there is no room for trucks that will have trailers to maneuver on the lot.

"There's no place for a truck of any size to turn around and get back onto Cranberry Highway. They're going right back out to Cohasset Road," she said. "There is no way for people to get in and out with this parking setup."

Residents also took issue with potential noise pollution from the shop, the shop's proximity to Buttermilk Bay and raised the question if the shop could over time transform into a car repair shop.

Zoning Board Chairman Ken Ferreira said that all of those issues, from pollution to residential road access, would be looked at by various town departments. He said any permits given will be very specific to what Mann is asking for -- a jetski repair shop.

Ferreira said the proposal must go before the Planning Board and the Town Engineer before coming back to the Zoning Board on March 11.