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.