Hamilton Planning Board Continues Garage Permit, Seeks Legal Clarity on Town Center Bylaw

HAMILTON -- April 29, 2026, Hamilton Planning Board continues its first town center nonconformity case, seeking legal guidance before ruling. The board, newly led by Chair Marnie Crouch and Vice Chair Amel Dahlquist, both elected unanimously at the April 28 meeting, voted 6-0 to continue a special permit application from property owners Mike Glatchund and Lisa Ting, who want to replace a deteriorating workshop at 176 Willow Street with a new single-car garage that would maintain a nonconforming 3.5-foot front setback and an 8-foot separation from the primary dwelling, both below the town center bylaw's 20-foot minimums. Architect Brian Stein argued that Massachusetts case law sets "substantially more detrimental" as the only binding standard for nonconforming single-family properties, while Crouch countered, "If every application is just, it's not more detrimental, we might as well rip up the code." The board continued the matter to May 5 pending an opinion from Town Counsel on whether a showing of impossibility of conformance is a predicate to that standard. Separately, the board continued a solar canopy site plan review for Hamilton-Wenham Regional High School to June 2, with project advocate Bob Knowles warning that a 30 percent federal investment tax credit, worth a significant share of project financing, expires July 4, 2026.