Charlton Zoning Board Continues Highland Road Variance, Accepts Sandersdale Road Withdrawal

CHARLTON -- April 8, 2025, Charlton Zoning Board takes no final action on either variance petition before it April 8. The board unanimously accepted a withdrawal without prejudice from the applicant seeking a common-driveway variance for three lots at 101 Sandersdale Road, after members determined the case could not advance until the Conservation Commission completed a resource-area delineation process and state DEP reviewed any proposed stream crossing, a sequence that could take several additional months. On a separate petition for a lot split at 5 Highland Road, the board voted unanimously to continue the case for 30 days, with the presiding member stating plainly that in his view the applicant had not met the statutory hardship standard under Massachusetts General Laws Chapter 40A: "You can build a house on this tomorrow. You just can't build two houses on that." A potential purchase of roughly 10,000 square feet from an abutting parcel, if it produced two fully conforming lots, could make the variance unnecessary, the board told the applicant that outcome would remove the case from its jurisdiction entirely.