Bellingham Planning Board Continues Four Hearings, Advances Three Zoning Amendments

BELLINGHAM — March 12, 2026 — Bellingham Planning Board continued four active development hearings and advanced three zoning amendments toward a town warrant at its March 12 meeting. The board voted 5-0 to withdraw the 79 Mechanic Street development plan permit without prejudice, continued the large 180 Pain Street special permit hearing to April 23 pending stormwater peer review and unresolved public safety talks with fire Chief Fitzgerald and police Chief Miller, and pushed the contentious 319 Blackstone Street application to April 23 with a May 29 decision deadline after the applicant's attorney argued the property is exempt from subdivision control law — a legal question the board may refer to town counsel. A new public hearing opened on proposed modifications at 239 Maple Street, where attorney Brian Faul of Mirick O'Connell is seeking to lift conditions that prohibit outdoor equipment storage and retail sales for prospective buyer Quality Fleet Services; board members raised concerns about traffic circulation and sight lines before continuing that hearing to April 9. The board also recognized existing subdivision plan sheets as satisfying a disputed landscape condition for the Snail Estates development off Lake Street, and voted unanimously to send drive-through regulations, an updated table of uses, and revised definitions to the Select Board for possible inclusion on the town warrant.