Norton Planning Board endorses ANR lot combinations and approves release of Balfour Farm covenants pending bond

The Norton Planning Board unanimously endorsed ANR21 — a request from P Eastern Home Builders LLC to combine multiple Mansfield Avenue lots — after the applicant’s representative said the parcels meet area and frontage requirements. Jack Jacobe, representing the applicant, told the board the plan shown was the same as presented at the prior meeting and requested endorsement.

Acting chair Eric Norris called for a motion; a roll-call vote recorded support from all five members present and the board agreed to coordinate in-person signatures at Town Hall.

Later in the meeting the board voted to release the covenants for lots 1–22 of the Balfour Farm subdivision on the condition that the town accepts an adequate surety bond for the unfinished work on Lloyd Circle and Germaine Way. Town staff and the applicant said Pat Brennan (the board’s peer reviewer) estimated the remaining work and recommended a bond figure. The board recorded that the required surety estimate for one roadway totaled about $473,346 and that the combined obligation for the two roads is roughly double that figure; the final bond amount will be set once the treasurer signs off.

Paul (staff) explained the motion: the board’s vote authorizes release of the listed lots but makes the release contingent on the treasurer’s acceptance of the posted bond. The vote passed on a roll call of members present. The board noted that signatures and notarization must be completed in person at Town Hall.

The Planning Board also approved a routine batch of draft meeting minutes spanning several 2025 and early-2026 meetings and then adjourned. The board scheduled multiple continued hearings on other agenda items for March 17, 2026.

What happens next: The town treasurer must confirm the surety instrument and the applicant must coordinate in-person signing for both the covenant release and the ANR endorsement.