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Planning board approves detached ADU at 27 Barker Road with conditions
Summary
The Scituate Central Planning Board approved a 520-sq.-ft. detached accessory dwelling unit (ADU) at 27 Barker Road on July 9, subject to conditions requiring a shown walkway, a recorded covenant prohibiting short-term rental and compliance with building, health and DPW requirements.
On July 9 the Scituate Central Planning Board approved a site-plan administrative review for a detached accessory dwelling unit at 27 Barker Road proposed by Candace Thornton.
The board’s approval imposes conditions that the applicant show pedestrian access on final plans, record a restrictive covenant prohibiting short-term rentals prior to issuance of any occupancy permit, conform to applicable DPW, building, health and fire-code requirements, install erosion-control measures during construction and limit construction hours. The decision must be recorded in the county registry of deeds before a building permit will issue.
“I’m looking to build an ADU,” Candace Thornton told the board, saying she plans to live in the smaller unit while her son and his family occupy the main house. The proposed unit is roughly 520 square feet, staff said in their administrative findings.
Rob Carlson, the engineer representing the applicant, said the team’s earlier plan had relied on residents walking across the lawn from the driveway rather than a formal paved route. “The plan was to not have a walkway…just access it…walking across the lawn,” Carlson said, and added that adding a formal walkway could change impervious-surface calculations and trigger additional stormwater review.
Board members said a simple pervious connection would address winter safety concerns. “Stepping stones would be fine,” one committee member said. The board conditioned approval on showing the ADU’s access route on the building-permit submission and confirmed that the building inspector and DPW must sign off on water and sewer connections.
The approval also contains standard ADU limitations under the zoning bylaw: no expansion of the ADU’s floor area is allowed without further planning-board review; at least one private off-street parking space must be provided; and the ADU must be subordinate to the single-family dwelling. The board’s written conditions specify down-lighting only and the installation of erosion- and sediment-control devices to prevent runoff during construction.
A voice vote approved the motion; staff said they would file the decision with the town clerk within the statutorily required interval and provide the applicant with a copy when filed.
