Dartmouth Planning Board tables Housing Production Plan vote, eyes April 6 endorsement

DARTMOUTH — March 23, 2026 — Dartmouth Planning Board defers Housing Production Plan vote and advances Article 24 site plan flexibility proposal. The five-member board, meeting virtually on March 23, voted unanimously on six motions but tabled its endorsement of the town's 181-page Housing Production Plan to the April 6 meeting after members raised concerns about an ADU square-footage discrepancy — the plan lists 600 square feet where state law allows 900 and the town bylaw allows 1,000 — overuse of undefined acronyms, and language identifying specific sites for Chapter 40B development, which Chair Nicholas Psichopaidas said "puts us in a position for a lot of pushback." Town Counsel Brian Cruz also briefed the board on proposed revisions to Article 24 that would move design standards out of the zoning bylaw and into board-created regulations, giving the board authority to grant waivers and update standards without returning to Town Meeting; a public hearing on that article is set for April 6. The board voted 5-0 to release all seven lots in the Golen Farms subdivision from their performance covenant after confirmation from Town Treasurer Gary Carrero that a surety bond was on file, and continued the 813 State Road 15-unit apartment special permit to April 6 pending resolution of an unresolved sewer tie-in question with Stantec. Cruz warned that constant state housing legislation — citing a proposed voter initiative that would require building permits on any 5,000-square-foot lot served by municipal water and sewer — makes meaningful long-term local zoning planning nearly impossible on a cycle longer than six to twelve months.