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Planning board approves using SERPED hours to finalize open-space residential design bylaw
Summary
Lakeville’s Planning Board voted to use budgeted consultancy hours with SERPED to complete a final draft of an Open Space Residential Design (OSRD) bylaw and asked staff to convene a focused review session; the board discussed lot-size, affordability and senior-lot provisions before the motion passed.
The Lakeville Planning Board on July 10 voted to use fiscal‑year consultant hours from SERPED to complete a final draft of the town’s Open Space Residential Design (OSRD) bylaw and to bring a final version back for review before Town Meeting.
Board members reviewed a circulating packet of OSRD best practices from the region and discussed outstanding issues including minimum lot sizes, continuity with previously protected open space, whether to include senior and affordable‑housing components, and the role of homeowners’ associations versus permanent restrictions. Planning staff noted the packet includes examples from other towns and recommended bringing SERPED in to help finalize the few unresolved items.
The board specifically referenced Board of Health concerns over minimum lot sizes for three‑bedroom units (one example discussed was 30,000 square feet) and discussed placing permanent restrictions on preserved open space through Article 97 language. The board also discussed flexibility in minimum parcel size thresholds to promote contiguity with existing protected land.
The board moved and approved a motion to "utilize the proposed fiscal‑year 2026 budgeted hours for the OSRD plan with SERPed" and asked staff to schedule a focused SERPED review session (in‑person or Zoom) to work through outstanding items. "We have 20 hours for SERPed to do some work for us," a board member said; the board intends to use that allocation to produce a draft suitable for town‑level review and a possible Town Meeting article.
Next steps: planning staff will contact SERPED and arrange a targeted review session and circulate any revised draft to the board ahead of the next planning-board meeting so members can finalize a recommended bylaw for Town Meeting consideration.
