Berlin Planning Board flags legal vulnerability in affordable housing zoning mandate

BERLIN — April 14, 2026 — Berlin Planning Board flags legal risk in inclusionary zoning and eyes $20,000 in town meeting warrant articles. At its April 14 remote session, Chair Tom Sanford reported that town counsel has advised the board that Berlin's existing inclusionary zoning requirement — which compels an affordable housing component in certain subdivisions with no corresponding benefit to the applicant — is of questionable legal authority, calling it "a substantial question as to whether the imposition" of such a mandate without a "concomitant benefit" is authorized. No applicant has challenged the provision to date, largely because most triggering projects have been 40B developments or have fallen just under the five-unit threshold. The board intends to address the gap through an ongoing zoning bylaw rewrite tied to a $15,000 warrant article heading to town meeting, alongside a separate $5,000 master plan appropriation; the Finance Committee has signaled support for both. On the Solomon Pond Mall redevelopment — a cross-border project shared with Marlborough — Sanford said Berlin and Marlborough remain aligned in requiring special permits and that no new proposal has been submitted by the proponents. The board also voted unanimously to pay $120.96 to the Clinton Item for two public hearing notices, and discussed an uneven transition to a new regional building inspector who began April 1 with no overlap with his predecessor.