Charlton Board of Appeals continues request to serve three ANR lots from one common driveway at Sanders Deal Road

Charlton Moore, chair of the Board of Appeals, on Thursday continued a petition from Christopher Hanson, the recorded owner and applicant, asking the board to allow a single common driveway to serve three ANR lots on a roughly 15–16 acre parcel at 101 Sanders Deal Road.

The request, Hanson said, stems from a perennial stream and associated riverfront/wetland area at the front of the property: “The variance and the relief that I'm looking for here is due to the wetland stream,” he said, and the plan would limit disturbance by routing access from one crossing and clustering buildable area uphill.

The board’s zoning enforcement officer and building inspector explained that the three lots shown are ANR lots with roughly 175 feet of frontage and more than 60,000 square feet each on the recorded ANR plan, but the applicant’s common‑driveway concept has not been recorded. The officer said Conservation Commission and the Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) will evaluate stream crossings; if state or local conservation bodies allow two crossings, the board may find no hardship that justifies expanding a common‑driveway permit from two lots to three.

Hanson’s consultant said the concept plan would keep most disturbance outside the 200‑foot riverfront buffer, limit initial clearing to a 30‑to‑40‑foot swath for the first 400–500 feet of the drive and place houses and septic areas on higher ground; the applicant said the common driveway would run about 400 feet, with the first house about 250 feet in. The zoning officer noted the applicant has prepared an alternatives plan but that the Conservation Commission had not yet reviewed a formal stream‑crossing submittal.

Neighbors and one abutter supported limiting crossings. Gene Lavassar of 90 Farmville said the land is very wet and agreed that a common driveway would be “the most logical and least disruptive.”

The board directed Hanson to submit the common‑driveway concept and a formal Request for Determination of Applicability (RDA) or stream‑crossing plan to the Conservation Commission, and to provide the board the commission’s response or notice of intent before the board makes a final determination. The board also advised the applicant to include the alternate two‑crossing plan so the commission can weigh practicable alternatives.

The applicant asked for a 30‑day continuance to allow time to consult conservation staff and for engineers to prepare the stream‑crossing materials. Charlton Moore made a motion to continue the hearing for 30 days; a board member seconded and the motion passed by voice vote. The board noted a statutory deadline to render a decision of February 22, 2025, and told Hanson to provide any request in writing if more time will be needed.

Hanson said he will consult the Conservation Commission and bring back either the commission’s determination or a revised plan showing alternatives before the board’s next meeting. The board did not grant the variance at the meeting and took no final action on the ANR lots.

Details that remain open include the Conservation Commission’s determination on single vs. multiple stream crossings, the applicant’s formal RDA/Notice of Intent filing, and any required Planning Board action for the common driveway special permit.