Sherborn Planning Board Approves 65 Farm Road Stormwater Permit With Conditions

SHERBORN -- June 23, 2026, Sherborn Planning Board unanimously approves stormwater permit for 65 Farm Road and advances zoning overhaul targeting business permitting barriers. The board voted 6-0 to grant the permit to property owner Gary Lambert for a new single-family dwelling, incorporating conditions drawn from Conservation Agent Joyce's June 3 review memo, including pre-construction erosion controls and a planning board inspection before certificate-of-occupancy sign-off. Town Planner Heidi told the board that Sherborn's business districts allow only single-family homes and agriculture by right, requiring every retail or commercial tenant to obtain a special permit through the Zoning Board of Appeals, a minimum two-month process with a 20-day appeals period and three-year renewals. "We don't make it very easy to do business here," she said. The board voted 6-0 to link a new consultant-hosted zoning bylaw review website to the town's official site, after member Brett Piercy argued the site's current framing understated a review that includes streamlining and modernizing permitting processes. Heidi also briefed the board on a 501(c)(3) soccer club's interest in purchasing the 100-acre Bliss Acres property at Route 115 and Bullard Street for $6 million to build two lighted artificial turf fields, warning that Dover Amendment protections could leave the town with leverage only over stormwater and parking, and that conversion to nonprofit ownership could repeat a revenue loss comparable to Millbourne Farms, which cost the town approximately $180,000 per year.