Hamilton Planning Board Continues Garage Permit, Seeks Legal Clarity on Town Center Bylaw

HAMILTON — April 29, 2026 — Hamilton Planning Board continues its first town center nonconformity case, seeking legal guidance before ruling. The board, newly led by Chair Marnie Crouch and Vice Chair Amel Dahlquist — both elected unanimously at the April 28 meeting — voted 6-0 to continue a special permit application from property owners Mike Glatchund and Lisa Ting, who want to replace a deteriorating workshop at 176 Willow Street with a new single-car garage that would maintain a nonconforming 3.5-foot front setback and an 8-foot separation from the primary dwelling, both below the town center bylaw's 20-foot minimums. Architect Brian Stein argued that Massachusetts case law sets "substantially more detrimental" as the only binding standard for nonconforming single-family properties, while Crouch countered, "If every application is just, it's not more detrimental, we might as well rip up the code." The board continued the matter to May 5 pending an opinion from Town Counsel on whether a showing of impossibility of conformance is a predicate to that standard. Separately, the board continued a solar canopy site plan review for Hamilton-Wenham Regional High School to June 2, with project advocate Bob Knowles warning that a 30 percent federal investment tax credit — worth a significant share of project financing — expires July 4, 2026.