Weymouth Zoning Board Approves Clinton Road Expansion, Hears 40B Warning

WEYMOUTH — January 8, 2020 — Weymouth's Board of Zoning Appeals approved a special permit for a Clinton Road homeowner to expand her house and received an urgent training on Chapter 40B affordable housing law ahead of a pending 67-unit development proposal in the Idlewell neighborhood. The board unanimously granted the permit for the owner of 122 Clinton Road to add a second floor and a six-by-eight-foot front entry foyer, with conditions requiring construction fencing and front-yard dumpster placement to protect an adjacent river. Housing coordinator Jane Cutlesy then introduced Lynn Sweet of LDS Consulting, brought in through Mass Housing Partnership's technical assistance program, who warned the board that once a project eligibility letter is issued for the Idlewell proposal, the town has as little as 24 hours before a formal application can land on its desk and just 15 days after a first public hearing to invoke any safe harbor. A town official told Sweet that the GIS calculations required to invoke the 1.5-percent gross land area safe harbor are already current and can be produced "in 15 minutes."