Bellingham Planning Board sends ADU, flood-zone bylaws to town meeting

BELLINGHAM — April 24, 2025 — Bellingham Planning Board advances ADU and flood-zone bylaws while extending Prosper Hill Village hearing to June. The board voted unanimously to send two warrant articles to spring town meeting: a new accessory dwelling unit bylaw capping ADUs at 900 square feet, barring short-term rentals and multifamily applications, and requiring emergency-access sign-off by town public safety officials; and an updated special flood hazard area overlay incorporating FEMA map panels effective July 8, 2025 and formally designating Building Inspector Tim Cardi as Community Flood Plain Administrator. The board also continued the nearly two-year-old Prosper Hill Village public hearing to June 12 with a decision deadline of July 31, after BSC Group peer reviewer Dominic Raldi outlined 23 open items — including unresolved stormwater calculations, a pending easement question on town land, and two formal waiver requests not yet filed — from a review letter the board received only the night before the meeting. A second continuance, for 122 Mending Street, was also pushed to June 12 with the same July 31 deadline.