Essex Planning Board Opens Public Hearing on 36-Lot Open Space Subdivision

ESSEX -- March 4, 2026, Essex Planning Board opens hearing on a 36-lot residential subdivision off Essex Park Road, with more than 70 percent of the 82-acre site proposed as permanent open space. Chair Lisa O'Donnell convened the first session on the definitive application by Bellpoint LLC for the project, called The Preserve at Essex, which received preliminary approval June 20, 2025, and an OSRD special permit September 3, 2025. The board voted unanimously to continue the hearing to March 18, when peer-review consultant Weston and Samson is expected to deliver preliminary findings. Conservation Commission Co-Chair Cliff Agaloff told the board the commission has not yet received a Notice of Intent from the applicant and will conduct a fully separate review under the Wetlands Protection Act, warning the public that "the process is bifurcated." The applicant's engineer said the NOI would be filed within one to two weeks; even a Planning Board approval would remain conditional on Conservation Commission and Board of Health sign-off before any construction could begin.