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.