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Planning Board endorses ANR for 50 Flanders Road amid questions about historic farmhouse
Summary
The Westborough Planning Board endorsed an Approval Not Required (ANR) plan for 50 Flanders Road that adjusts lot lines and creates a roadway for several new lots. Members raised concerns about a historic farmhouse at 50 Flanders and whether a prior demolition delay remains in effect.
The Westborough Planning Board on June 17 endorsed an Approval Not Required plan for property at 48–54 Flanders Road that reconfigures lot lines to meet two‑family frontage requirements and establishes a roadway and cul‑de‑sac to service several new lots.
Ken Strong of WBA Design Group presented the plan, saying the proposal moves lot lines and creates a new roadway "to service" three lots and that the existing farmhouse at 50 Flanders is shown on the plan as "going to be razed." He told the board the subdivision would provide required frontage for the proposed two‑family parcel and that the new roadway would supply frontage for interior lots.
Chair Hazel Nurse and other board members pressed staff and the presenter about the house’s historic status. Nurse said the house contains an original beehive oven and recalled prior involvement by the historical commission. "They put a demolition delay on it," but "that time has since passed," Nurse said during the discussion, and she asked staff to confirm whether any demolition‑delay or permit remains in effect for the property.
Planner Jenny Gingers said she would investigate the demolition‑delay status and noted the town’s demolition‑delay process exists to allow time for preservation review, documentation or photographs.
Board members also reviewed frontage numbers and the geometry of a triangular parcel that the applicants said was needed to achieve required frontage for future lots and to accommodate the proposed roadway alignment. The applicant explained the triangular parcel claims frontage up to where the proposed road begins and that lots built off the new road would take their frontage from the roadway rather than directly from Flanders Road.
After extended discussion about lot configuration, stone walls shown on the plans and driveway access, a board member moved and the Planning Board voted to endorse the ANR plan prepared for Jonathan and Josiah Rich by WBA Design Group dated 05/29/2025.
The board did not take a separate final action on demolition of the farmhouse; Nurse said the applicants must obtain any demolition permit and that the historical commission’s requirements and any demolition delay remain a separate process. Planner Gingers said she would follow up with the historical commission and the building department and report back to the board.
Next steps: the applicants indicated they will submit a definitive subdivision application; the Planning Board said it expected to review a definitive plan and related permitting at a future meeting.
