Athol Board approves flag lot permit on Chestnut Hill Avenue

ATHOL – The Board of Planning and Community Development held two public hearings for flag lot special permits for properties on Chestnut Hill Avenue and Lenox Street.

A flag lot is property shaped like a flag on a pole, where an access strip connects a buildable plot of land to a public road. 

The board first considered a flag lot special permit application submitted by Stephen D. Curry for property at 3107 Chestnut Hill Ave., which would be used for a house. The hearing had been continued from the board’s Feb. 4 meeting so the applicant could submit a revised plan addressing driveway access requirements.

“The applicants’ engineers are meeting everything in requirements of Section 3.15, which is the flag lot bylaw,” said Director of Planning and Community Development Eric Smith at the March 4 meeting.

He said the revised plan maintains an 80-foot center line radius, includes passing turnouts spaced to meet the 300-foot requirement, and shows a hammerhead-style emergency turnaround designed to allow fire trucks to access the property.

“The street width would be 12 feet wide, with unobstructed clearing of 20 feet,” Smith said, noting that it slightly exceeds the town’s bylaw requirement of 18 feet.

The board also reviewed several conditions tied to the approval. The permit would require the project to follow the approved plan, allow only one principal structure on the lot, and prohibit adjoining flag lots.

Smith also said the project would need to meet requirements under the Massachusetts Fire Code, 527 CMR 1.00, before a building permit could be issued.

“The Fire Department would have to sign off,” he said.

The board voted 5-0 to approve the special permit with conditions.

A second public hearing followed for a flag lot special permit application submitted by Reginald C. Haughton Jr. for property at 1 Lenox St.

The proposal would create a 10,000-square-foot lot for a new house, while the remaining 7.1 acres would become a flag lot serving the current house through the existing driveway.

Smith explained that the property has limited frontage along Lenox Street.

“70 feet is how long the road is actually constructed,” he said, noting the zoning bylaw typically requires 160 feet of frontage.

Smith said the board must also determine whether the existing driveway meets the town’s flag lot access requirements.

“If those standards aren’t being met, then a waiver would need to be requested and we don’t have any waiver request right now,” he said.

The board voted to continue the hearing to its next meeting on April 1.

“We’ll try to work out these issues in between,” Smith said.

He also noted that the board will hold a special meeting on March 18 at 7 p.m. via Zoom to review updates related to the town’s master plan.