Lunenburg Planning Board Continues 20-Unit Townhome Proposal Over Fire Access Concerns

LUNENBURG -- March 16, 2026, Lunenburg Planning Board continues 20-unit townhome proposal and advances two de minimis site plan changes at March 16 meeting. The board continued three public hearings for 860 New West Townsend Road, where Daniel and Rachel Brackett are seeking approval for four lots each containing a five-unit townhome, totaling 20 units on a single common driveway, to April 13, pending a peer review from Graves Engineering and a requested fire department consultation. One board member flagged that the town's common driveway bylaw appears to contain no cap on the number of units a single common driveway may serve, only a lot-count limit. The board voted unanimously to approve de minimis site plan changes at 475 Leominster-Shirley Road, covering rooftop solar and battery storage for a completed warehouse owned by BP Lunenburg Central Fee Owner LLC, and at 225-229 Leominster-Shirley Road, covering design updates to a 2022-approved garage facility for Powell's that had stalled due to water and power complications. Planning Director Steve Wallace also presented a 2026 work program targeting four zoning amendments for the 2027 annual town meeting: a rewrite of the inclusionary zoning bylaw, a new senior housing bylaw, a minor site plan review provision, and a cluster development bylaw establishing cluster as by-right use.