Planning board approves detached accessory apartment at 386 Wallace Road with conditions after neighborhood objections

The Bedford Planning Board on Jan. 13 approved a conditional use permit for a detached accessory apartment at 386 Wallace Road, allowing a two-bedroom ADU behind an existing single-family house subject to conditions intended to preserve the residential character of the site.

Applicant Catherine Marie Keirce Rice presented plans shown by Earl Sanford of Sanford Surveying and Engineering for an ADU on the rear of the property. The proposed structure is set back more than 50 feet from side lot lines, includes a garage and an unfinished basement, and features approximately 887 square feet of living space. Planning staff recommended approval with conditions and the board adopted conditions addressing driveway access, screening, and limitations on commercial use.

Neighbors and abutters raised significant concerns during the hearing. Patricia Pansyaco, speaking for Tammy Miller and Mark Duby, said the off-road opening on Wallace Road had been used regularly for commercial truck access and equipment associated with a landscaping business and asked the board to restrict secondary access and the potential for on-site commercial activity. Pansyaco noted repeated complaints to the town about the property over more than a decade and urged stronger conditions.

Board members and staff discussed several points in detail: whether the interior “study” on the ADU floor plan functionally resembled a third bedroom, whether the basement could reasonably be finished in the future, and whether the existing second access should be closed. Public Works flagged the second curb cut historically used as a grassed service entrance and recommended it be closed or loamed and seeded to avoid a new permanent driveway that would add traffic to Wallace Road; the applicant said the grassed access serves septic and fuel delivery needs and would be used only occasionally during construction or servicing.

To address these concerns the board approved the ADU with conditions that include: adherence to the submitted plans; loam-and-seed or similar closure of the secondary access to the satisfaction of the Department of Public Works; that the ADU not be used for business purposes (clarified to allow no more than one commercial vehicle on the entire property at a time); and a requirement that the interior study have French doors or similar visible separator to reduce the risk it becomes a de facto additional bedroom. The motion included the standard requirement that the ADU have no more than two bedrooms and meet the size limit for detached ADUs.

The board voted to approve the conditional use permit; two members voted no. Planning staff indicated enforcement pathways remain if commercial activity is substantiated outside the scope of the ADU permit.

Votes and motion

- Motion to grant the conditional use permit for the detached accessory apartment at 386 Wallace Road with conditions (conditions 1–5 in the staff report, plus clarifications: closure of the secondary access by loam-and-seed to DPW satisfaction; French doors for the study; and a clarification that no more than one commercial vehicle may be parked on site at any time): Moved by Priscilla Malcolm; second by Chris Swinjarski. Outcome: approved; recorded opposition from Priscilla Malcolm and Phil Grazo (two no votes).