Bellingham Planning Board Continues 1,400-Unit Country Club Hearing to June

BELLINGHAM -- May 22, 2025, Bellingham's Planning Board continued a contentious public hearing on a proposed 1,400-unit active adult development at the New England Country Club to June 26. The applicant trimmed the project from 1,600 units, reducing the eastern parcel by 350 units and eliminating 200 overall, but board members including Chair Robert and member Steve called the reduction insufficient, with Steve describing the project as "a square peg in a round hole" in a residential town. Town Planner Rob Lucier cataloged roughly 30 open concerns across traffic, stormwater, utilities, and general impacts, and announced he would post 2017 zone-change documents, including a development agreement with original developer Bonvy Homes, to the town website. State Representative Soder, who was on the Selectboard when the overlay passed, warned she would "look at every obstacle to throw in your way from a state level," disputed the enforceability of the 55-plus rental restriction, and urged the developer to build owner-occupied condominiums as the overlay intended. Representatives of the Pocasset Wampanoag Tribe of the Pokanoket Nation appeared to assert that the site contains Native American burial grounds, and the Bellingham Historical Commission's vice chair called for a state-level archaeological review before any ground is disturbed.