Planning board tables Hamilton Way subdivision after safety, wetlands and access concerns

The Bedford Planning Board on Feb. 10 voted to table an application for a lot line adjustment and two‑lot subdivision at 7 Hamilton Way after extended discussion about sight‑distance safety, wetland impacts and potential blasting.

The applicant, represented by attorney Philip Hastings of Cleveland, Waters and Bass and Tom Burns of T. F. Moran, asked the board to approve two waivers: (1) a partial waiver from a requirement for a full boundary survey for the larger Bedford Bluffs parcel, and (2) a waiver from the regulation that each lot must have its own driveway on public frontage, proposing instead a shared driveway off the existing Hamilton Way access.

Board members and town staff said the project raises competing concerns. Public Works and town engineering staff flagged a safety standard: Bedford’s driveway/roadway standard requires 200 feet of all‑season sight distance at driveway exits. The applicant’s submitted survey showed roughly 60 feet of sight distance looking west from the existing driveway because of a crest on Hamilton Way; applicants argued adding one house would produce fewer than one additional trip during peak hours (about 0.7 AM peak and 0.94 PM peak trips) and compared that effect to an accessory dwelling unit (ADU), which they estimated…