Norton Planning Board continues three housing projects amid pushback

Planning Board · Meeting of January 20, 2026

Norton Planning Board continues three major housing hearings after Pine Street residents protest years of overlapping construction. Attorney Jack Jacoby sought delays on a 61 West Main Street "top of the shop" permit and a court-remanded 72-unit apartment proposal at 0 Mansfield Avenue, both continued to late winter. The board spent hours on a 21-lot Norton Land Company cluster subdivision at 0 Pine Street, where engineer Bob Forbes detailed 24.87 acres of preserved open space, and residents including Debbie Daich and Bob Kimball described flooding, dangerous truck traffic and a proposed $600,000 payment in lieu of three affordable units.

"I want you to all know how devastating it is to me," Daich said. The board separately closed the public hearing on a five-unit conversion at 108 West Main Street with conditions for EV parking and snow storage.

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Source: the Planning Board meeting of January 20, 2026, reported from the official video recording and transcript.