Newbury Planning Board Continues Central Street Subdivision Hearing Amid Intersection Safety Concerns

NEWBURY -- April 1, 2026, Newbury Planning Board continued a Central Street subdivision hearing over intersection safety concerns and voted 4-1 to approve a Sunset Club site-plan decision at its April 1 remote meeting. Chair Woody Knight and member Peter Pecos said a site walk revealed dangerous sight lines where Church Street meets Central Street at an acute angle, and the board is awaiting design concepts from the Merrimack Valley Planning Commission before the hearing resumes April 15. Three abutters, including a new neighbor at 17 Church Street who requested screening discussions with applicant Mike Becker, backed either a dead-end or a geometric fix; Knight said he opposes closing Church Street, calling it a known cut-through. The board also spent more than an hour on a close-out review of a four-year-old site plan approval at 84 Boston Road, where members flagged unshielded lights, a disputed five-tree berm that member Pecos called inadequate to replace cleared woodland, and the absence of a Conservation Commission closeout or peer-review letter on the as-built plan. Member Steve Fangio cast the lone no vote on the Sunset Club decision, citing lights visible from Hay Street bridge. A request to replace a planned 800-foot municipal water main with private wells and sprinklers at 170 Orchard Street was held for more information on backup power and a formal fire-department endorsement.