ZBA continues hearing on 237‑unit Touro Residence comprehensive permit, accepts time extension for decision

The Zoning Board of Appeals continued public hearings on March 13 for a comprehensive permit application by Touro Residence LLC under M.G.L. Chapter 40B for a proposed 237‑unit multifamily development on a 13.08‑acre portion of 275 Forest Ridge Road.

Chair members and staff recapped outreach since the prior meeting, including neighborhood walk‑throughs with the applicant and two association meetings with the Sweet Birch and Black Birch neighbors. Wood Partners, the applicant’s representative, said the team submitted multiple follow-up items requested by the town’s peer reviewer, including a sustainability narrative, mechanical screening plan and bicycle-storage and amenity‑space summaries.

Legal counsel and the applicant’s team urged the board to keep the hearing open while peer‑review comments are finalized. Jim Ward, counsel for the applicant, explained the legal effect of closing a hearing: once closed, new information cannot be added to the record and the applicant would lose the opportunity to respond to outstanding peer‑review comments. "Once the hearing is closed, we cannot introduce or nobody can introduce any new information that's not already currently in the record," Ward said.

The board heard from multiple consultants and witnesses about technical issues. The fire department had submitted a letter about a secondary access and dimensions for the site driveway; the board asked the applicant and the fire department to reconcile a discrepancy in the dimensions (the letter referenced 18x18 while other plans showed 18x14 or similar). Town peer reviewers for civil engineering and architecture remained finalizing memos.

The board voted to accept a time extension for the decision to April 11 to allow outstanding peer-review work, and it scheduled the next hearing continuation for April 3 at 7:05 p.m. The board also instructed staff and counsel to begin preparing draft decision language and to have peer reviewers and town counsel populate technical conditions for the draft.

No final vote on the comprehensive permit or requested waivers was taken at this meeting. The board and applicant agreed to continue negotiations with neighborhood groups on screening, building colors and other site details; the applicant offered additional plantings and visual mitigation and introduced a mechanical‑screening approach that locates rooftop equipment over the corridor and adds 4‑foot screen walls to reduce visibility and attenuate noise.

The record remains open pending peer-review memos, the applicant’s responses and resolution on certain off‑site access items; the board will reconvene in April.