Hamilton Planning Board Adopts Code of Conduct, Scrutinizes 45-Unit Affordable Housing Proposal

HAMILTON — June 15, 2021 — Hamilton Planning Board adopts code of conduct and scrutinizes 45-unit Asbury Street affordable housing proposal. The board voted unanimously Tuesday to adopt a planning board code of conduct dated June 1, 2021, reviewed by town counsel and described by board member Marnie Crouch as centering on "transparency and civility." The board also unanimously endorsed an approval not required division of a roughly 5-acre parcel at 821 Bay Road into two lots. The session's main business was a continued conceptual review of a 40B proposal from Harbor Lake Community Partners, whose representative Andrew DeFranco presented a revised single-building design with 45 units and 83 parking spaces on a four-acre parcel at 421 Asbury Street. Board members raised detailed concerns about unbroken roof massing, parking lot proximity to abutting tree drip lines, lighting spill onto the neighboring Cannerbrook development, and driveway safety on Asbury Street. DeFranco told abutters in the audience that a formal state application has been pending roughly three months, a ZBA application would follow this fall, and construction would not begin for at least five to six years.