Westminster Planning Board Approves Seven Waivers for 32-Unit State Road Apartment Project

ASHBURNHAM -- June 23, 2026, Westminster Planning Board approves seven site plan waivers for a proposed 32-unit apartment complex on State Road. The board, meeting June 23 with three of five members present, unanimously approved waivers for State Road West 88 LLC covering building elevations, locus plan scale, traffic impact analysis, floodplain elevation calculations, tree caliper identification, a stormwater pipe-run standard, and parking stall size, the latter adjusted to nine-by-18-foot stalls while the total number of spaces was reduced to hold impervious surface constant. John Pluck of McCarty Engineering told the board that Tetra Tech, the town's outside engineering consultant, had resolved 29 of 55 review comments, and that the 32 proposed units would generate an estimated 23 to 24 peak-hour trips, well below the 100-trip threshold for a full traffic study; instead, the board conditioned the traffic waiver on a brief technical memorandum. An abutter argued that granting waivers without a full traffic analysis and building elevations in the public record denied neighbors critical information, citing a MassDOT formula yielding roughly 256 daily vehicle trips across all units. The public hearing was continued to July 14.