Planning Board Endorses Winter Street Lot Split, Sets Three April Zoning Hearings

EAST BRIDGEWATER -- March 2, 2026, East Bridgewater Planning Board endorses Winter Street lot split and schedules three zoning public hearings for April 6. The board unanimously approved a Form A plan dividing 425 Winter Street into a 49,765-square-foot front lot and an 88,094-square-foot rear estate lot, conditioned on engineer C.W. Garvey Co. Inc. restoring a missing wetlands line before members sign the plan. Vice Chairman Roy Gardner, who moved the endorsement, also led a lengthy discussion of a revised accessory dwelling unit bylaw draft prepared in response to a partial disapproval letter from the Massachusetts Attorney General's office dated September 24, 2025, warning that ADU restrictions cannot be limited to R1 districts. Gardner argued the AG's reading creates intractable problems for condominiums, where common land is collectively owned: "I don't think we can just blanket say that any residential building can have an accessory dwelling unit." The board set public hearings for April 6 on three zoning articles bound for Annual Town Meeting, the North Bedford Street zoning map amendment at 7:15 p.m., the ADU correction at 7:30 p.m., and the MBTA zoning district article at 7:45 p.m.