Zoning board continues Simmons Hill LLC 40B hearing to Feb. 9 after developer requests postponement

The Town of Lakeville Zoning Board of Appeals voted on Jan. 12 to continue a continued hearing on a proposed 200-unit development by Simmons Hill LLC until Feb. 9, 2026, at 6 p.m. at the Lakeville Public Library.

The chair of the board (unnamed in the record) read the application into the record at the start of the meeting, describing a comprehensive permit request under Mass General Law 40b for a project off Freetown Street the board recorded as “200 units,” including “44 units that consist of single family homes, 46 duplex cottages, and eleven 10-unit condominium buildings,” and saying “not less than 50 of such units shall be restricted as affordable for low or moderate income persons or families.”

Mohammed Itani, who identified himself as representing Simmons Hill LLC and as the developer, asked the board to continue the hearing so that the full five-member board could be present. “I would like to ask the board to continue the meeting till their next scheduled meeting,” Itani said.

The chair explained the board had three members present of a five-member panel and described the “Mullen rule,” saying absent members who miss one meeting may review the proceedings later and still participate in a vote if they feel up to speed. The chair said the board could proceed with three members but offered the petitioner the choice to continue or present that night.

After the petitioner requested a continuance, a motion to continue the Simmons Hill LLC hearing to Feb. 9 at 6 p.m. at the Lakeville Public Library was made and approved by voice vote; the chair stated the motion "carries unanimously" with the three members present.

The board also approved minutes from the May 16 meeting, again by unanimous voice vote, and then adjourned at 6:16 p.m.

No substantive discussion of the project’s design, environmental impacts, traffic, or affordable-housing phasing was recorded in the transcript for this session; the hearing will resume on the Feb. 9 date stated for additional presentations and deliberations.