Marion Planning Board — August 3, 2026

The Marion Planning Board met on August 3, 2026, to address routine administrative business and continue public hearings on active development proposals. The board began by unanimously approving meeting minutes from July 15 through July 20, 2026, and authorizing a peer review invoice payment of $413.69 to Field Engineering from the Toll Brothers account. A public hearing for the Barnabas application was continued without substantive presentation to August 17, 2026.

The principal matter before the board was the continued public hearing for major site plan review at 413 Wareham Street (Route 6), proposed as a relocation site for Uncle John's Cafe. Project architect Will Saltonstall and applicant JJ Pope, alongside traffic consultant David Moyer, reviewed peer review findings recently issued by Steve Findlen and Patrick Bogle of Howard Stein Hudson (HSH). The discussions focused on traffic circulation, curb cut approvals through MassDOT, emergency vehicle access, delivery and dumpster operations along Wells Road, and stormwater mitigation. The board unanimously approved two zoning waivers: reducing the parking aisle width along the western portion from 24 feet to 23 feet to preserve ADA-compliant pedestrian sidewalks, and permitting parking forward of the building due to the parcel being bound by roadways on all sides. After agreeing that civil revisions and direct coordination between the applicant's engineers and HSH would proceed, the board voted unanimously to continue the hearing to August 17, 2026.

In other business, the board noted no correspondence and received a brief informational update from the procedures task force regarding draft guidelines for agenda setting, welcome correspondence, and orientation manuals for incoming board members. The meeting was subsequently adjourned by unanimous vote.

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