Westminster Planning Board Approves All Seven Waivers for 32-Unit Rental Development

WINCHENDON — June 23, 2026 — Westminster Planning Board unanimously approves seven site plan waivers for a proposed 32-unit residential rental development on State Road West. Meeting with three of four voting members present, the board worked through waiver requests submitted by John Plifkin of McCarty Engineering on behalf of applicant State Road West 88 LLC, covering building elevations, locus plan scale, traffic impact analysis, floodplain elevation mapping, a tree-caliper inventory, a stormwater pipe run exceeding 300 feet, and parking stall size. On traffic, the board declined to require a full traffic impact study after the town's outside consultant, Tetra Tech, found that the project's estimated 23 to 24 peak-hour trips fall well under the 100-trip threshold, instead conditioning a waiver on a brief technical memorandum from the applicant. An abutter cited MassDOT figures suggesting 256 daily vehicle trips and called the data "critical information" owed to the public at this stage; board members responded that traffic study results cannot be used to restrict a residential development. Staff outlined draft conditions of approval including dark-sky lighting, pre-construction floodplain special permit approval from the ZBA, and EOHLC-governed affordable housing requirements for eight of the 32 units. The public hearing was continued to July 14, 2026.