Planning Board
Board approved a sign for MacDaddies at 36 Main St. and reviewed preapplication plans for a large Historic Preservation Special Permit at 230 Main St. (proposal to preserve a 1745 house within a new multi-building 68‑unit development); the Board also heard historic-preservation preapplications for 2 Elmwood St. and 19 Prospect St.
The Planning Board opened with one formal approval: a vote to approve the post‑installation sign for MacDaddies at 36 Main St. Staff noted the applicant applied after the fact to bring the sign into compliance; the applicant’s representative said the sign matched a neighboring business and was screen‑printed. The motion to approve the sign passed 6–0.
The bulk of the meeting was taken by preapplication presentations for Historic Preservation Special Permits. The largest and most substantive was a multi‑building redevelopment at 230 Main St./234 Main/2 Macy/4 Rosedale: the applicant proposes to preserve and restore the 1745 house (230 Main St.) while demolishing the other existing buildings and consolidating parcels to construct five buildings totaling 68 residential units, a carriage house, parking (about 70 spaces, including EV and accessible stalls), courtyards, and subsurface stormwater management. Board members and staff discussed parking shortfalls relative to zoning (proposal shows ~78 spaces vs. 102 required), visitor parking, parking locations and walking distances, waiver needs (setbacks, open space, parking), mechanical screening, trash/dumpster locations, snow storage, tree and streetscape planting, traffic study scope (including school- and beach‑period counts), and a request from staff for by‑right density comparisons and TRC/DRC comments to be provided with the formal filing.
Two additional historic‑preservation preapplications were presented. At 2 Elmwood St. the proposal would split a 13,000 sf lot to preserve the existing two‑family Victorian and add a new single‑family residence on a new sublot; the team responded to DRC/TRC concerns by revising driveway orientation and plans call for single‑car garages, dimensional waivers, a privacy fence at the rear, and further landscaping buffers. At 19 Prospect St. the applicant proposed restoring a c.1870 two‑family, removing an unsympathetic 1950s addition, building a smaller rear addition and a three‑car accessory garage; design work will retain historic window patterns, provide screened AC and new stormwater infiltration, and maintain one garage plus tandem space per unit. Board feedback across these preapplications focused on refining driveway/parking layouts, setback waivers, snow storage, mechanical screening, and providing additional detail and TRC/DRC comments with formal applications.
Points of interest
