Douglas ZBA Opens 40B Hearing on 30-Unit Southwest Main Street Duplex Project

DOUGLAS -- April 1, 2026, Douglas ZBA opens first hearing on a 30-unit Chapter 40B duplex project at 30 Southwest Main Street. The board heard from applicant's consultant Dean Harrison and engineer Mark Gates of Land Planning, who presented plans for 15 duplex buildings on roughly 28 acres in a Rural Agricultural zone, with eight of the 30 three-bedroom units deed-restricted as affordable at approximately $350,000 each. Board members pressed the applicant on a hydrant flow test that produced a residual pressure of just 24 PSI on a dead-end water main already flagged for low pressure, and questioned whether a traffic study conducted in early March captured peak seasonal conditions near Thompson Speedway and Wallum Lake State Park. Abutter Jack Teo, of 49 Southwest Main Street, told the board he had documented 200 traffic citations on the road between December 2023 and January 2025, and described eight serious accidents including a fatality in front of his property. Conservation Agent Brandon Fanoff put the board on notice that the Conservation Commission intends to assert jurisdiction under Douglas Article 8 over the project's lower stormwater basin, which sits in close proximity to a pond and bordering vegetated wetland. The board voted unanimously to continue the public hearing to May 6 at 7 p.m. and directed staff to begin establishing a Section 53G peer review account, with an anticipated initial deposit of $5,000.