Hamilton Planning Board Approves EV Charging Update, Launches Gordon Conwell Zoning Study

HAMILTON — December 20, 2022 — Hamilton Planning Board approves EV charging site plan update and opens Gordon Conwell zoning study. The board voted 5-0 at its December 20 meeting to amend the approved site plan for Willow Street Hamilton LLC's Passive House apartment building at 59 and 63 Willow Street, formally adding 23 electric vehicle charging spaces that had been installed after the original plan was filed. Applicant Dave Tagoreth said the building also features a rooftop solar array covering roughly half the building's electricity needs. Board member Amel Dolquist then presented a zoning options overview for the Gordon Conwell Theological Seminary campus, recommending further study of Traditional Neighborhood Development and Village Center overlay codes as the most suitable design-oriented tools for the approximately 102-acre site. One board member put informal land-value estimates on the table, suggesting mixed-use redevelopment across three separately sold parcels — corporate office, market-rate multifamily, and affordable housing — could generate $60 million to $70 million, compared to roughly $15 million under conventional single-family development. Chair Pat Norton warned that without a near-final zoning code by mid-January, an April Town Meeting vote would be off the table under state law.