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Guest cottage near Maxi Pond cemetery held after commissioners call siting 'disrespectful' to historic graves
Summary
A proposed guest cottage at 10 Maxi Pond was held for revisions after multiple commissioners and at least one on‑site reviewer said the building’s current location is too close to a 250‑year‑old founding‑fathers cemetery. The board recommended relocation, a 20‑foot offset or substantial cedar screening.
Commissioners placed the application for a guest cottage at 10 Maxi Pond on hold after several members and staff reported visiting the site and finding the proposed structure too close to an adjacent historic cemetery.
The applicant presented a revised siting that moved the guest cottage 5 feet away from the property edge and lowered the finished floor slightly. Commissioners and at least one board member who had viewed the site in person described the current placement as visually intrusive and stated the cottage reads as a 'slap in the face' to the founding‑fathers graves because it sits on a prominent hilltop immediately adjoining the cemetery.
Members recommended several mitigation measures: relocating the guest cottage farther inland or to the other side of the driveway circle, increasing the vegetative buffer (recommendation cited eastern red cedar in a naturalized band), or moving the structure 20 feet off the property line to minimize visibility from the cemetery. Members also suggested removing the dormer that faces the graveyard.
The board voted to hold the application for revisions and asked the applicant to explore relocation or substantial screening and to return with revised drawings and plantings.
What happens next: Applicant will return with alternative siting options and a landscape plan focused on screening and preservation of sightlines to the cemetery; staff will put the revised application on the next appropriate agenda.
