Groveland Planning Board Voids Special Permit Application Over Missing Clerk Timestamp

GROVELAND -- June 16, 2026, Groveland Planning Board unanimously voided a special permit application Tuesday after discovering it was never filed with the town clerk. Town Planner John Gilfoyle disclosed that an application for a parking reduction and affordable housing inclusion, received in February and deemed complete April 19 when the permit fee check arrived, had never been timestamped by the clerk's office, a procedural step required under Massachusetts special permit law to start the statutory clock for public notice and appeals. The board voted to declare the application "null and void" and directed the applicant to refile, re-advertise, and repeat the full public hearing, though members said all prior hearing work remains valid and a fast turnaround, potentially by the July 7 meeting, is possible if paperwork is filed within days. In a separate matter, the board agreed to schedule a posted site walk at 25 Cannon Hill Avenue and 6 Homestead Lane to investigate a two-year dispute between neighbor Craig Weaver and homeowner Jamison Pelkey over alleged encroachments into a 30-foot no-cut buffer zone, with the town's zoning enforcement officer to conduct official measurements and the original subdivision developer to assist in permanently re-staking the boundary.