Berlin ZBA Continues Garage Permit, Renews Coburn Road Special Permit After Quorum Crisis

Zoning Board · Meeting of March 11, 2026

Berlin's Zoning Board of Appeals continued a commercial garage permit application and renewed a separate five-year special permit at its March 11 meeting, after a quorum crisis forced a 20-minute recess while a member drove to town hall to retrieve Chair Lynn Ryan. Civil engineer Scott Hayes of Foresight Engineering presented a site plan for a 2,000-square-foot, three-bay garage at 320 Old Central Street on a nonconforming 20,850-square-foot lot, but Vice Chair Jim Royer identified a parking shortfall — eight spaces proposed against a bylaw minimum of 10 — and the board flagged missing signage specifications and questions about screening plantings proposed within the public road right-of-way. The hearing was continued to April 8.

With four voting members present after Ryan's return, the board voted 4-0 to renew the special permit for 107 Coburn Road for five years under existing conditions, with site inspections by two board members and no complaints on file from the zoning enforcement officer.

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Source: the Zoning Board meeting of March 11, 2026, reported from the official video recording and transcript.