Zoning board approves special permits and variances for mixed-use development at 1 Church Street

The Zoning Board of Appeals on July 28 approved special permits and variances for a proposed mixed‑use development at 1 Church Street, allowing two mixed‑use buildings with retail and a restaurant serving alcohol and multifamily housing to move forward with conditions. Chair Paul Sagley Ferry presided over the roll-call votes after discussion of updated plans and draft conditions; board members recorded affirmative votes and the motion passed.

Brad Blanchard read the application and its legal citations into the record and the board reviewed a package that described three waivers, four special permits and two variances tied to zoning bylaw sections raised during the hearing. "The zoning board appeals relative to the application of LAK Northborough Realty LLC for special permit, a horizontal mixed use and restaurant serving alcoholic beverages…with the construction of two mixed use buildings containing a total of approximately 18,189 square feet," Blanchard said when summarizing the submission. The board adopted findings of fact and 32 conditions as amended during the evening’s discussion, including requirements for updated plans, traffic and pedestrian-safety documentation, and a mechanism to require supplemental traffic review if a future tenant’s use generates materially different trips than assumed in the original study.

The board also passed three waivers by roll call (sidewalk material, front open‑space percentage, and parking-lot landscape buffer). The vote roster recorded by the chair listed Ed, Jack, Brad Blanchard, Susie Familow and Paul Sagley Ferry as voting in favor. The approvals are subject to MassDOT and DPW reviews where jurisdiction applies (for example, curb-cut permits and pavement markings). The board noted that any MassDOT denial of necessary permits could require the applicant to revise plans and return to the board.