Scituate Planning Board approves Borden Road ADU, advances two streets to Town Meeting

SCITUATE — January 22, 2026 — Scituate Planning Board unanimously approved a basement accessory dwelling unit, endorsed a three-lot land division, and recommended two subdivision streets for town acceptance at its January 22 meeting. Chair Patricia Lambert presided over four members — Vice Chair Rebecca Lewis, Clerk Ann Burbine, and Stephen Pritchard — with Maura Burke absent and Town Planner Karen Joseph staffing the meeting. The board voted 4-0 to approve a 630-square-foot ADU at 15 Borden Road for Dana and Margaret Major, conditioning approval on a recorded covenant barring short-term rentals. A contested Form A plan for 23 Henry Lane — where attorney Jeffrey DeLisi argued historical maps from 1937 through 1960 show three structures predating Scituate's 1947 Subdivision Control Law adoption — was endorsed 4-0, allowing owner Paul Mirabito, Trustee of BCN Realty Trust, to divide the parcel into three saleable lots. The board also voted 4-0 to recommend that the April 13 Annual Town Meeting accept Carriage House Way and Cold Brook Circle in the Curtis Estates subdivision as public ways. A heated public hearing on proposed Zoning Bylaw Section 620.4(D) — which would restrict decks and patios from encroaching into setbacks — was continued to February 12, with engineer Gregory Morse calling the drainage provision "impossible" to meet for standard driveways and architect Steven Chung warning the April 15, 2026 building-permit deadline could strand his client's fire-rebuild project at 72 Glades Road.