Rowley Zoning Board Denies Two Development Applications in Single Meeting

ROWLEY -- February 21, 2019, Rowley's Zoning Board of Appeals denied two separate development applications on February 21, citing an active court appeal and an applicant's repeated failure to produce required documents. The board voted unanimously to deny Case No. 1905, a proposal to build on lots off the private, unimproved Ellsworth Road, after rejecting an attorney's request for a further continuance; the fire department's letter, read into the record, found the road too narrow for emergency apparatus and lacking an adequate turnaround, and the board's counsel noted the underlying land court ruling, affirming the ZBA's original finding that the road is not a legal way, remains on appeal at the Massachusetts Appeals Court. In a second action, the board closed the hearing and unanimously denied a 40B application tied to a Marion Lane parcel proposing 12 single-family structures, finding that the applicant had never supplied documents the board had requested repeatedly since June 2018, despite a written warning that noncompliance could result in denial. The board voted to delegate signatory authority to the chair to meet a Friday filing deadline inside the 100-day statutory window.