Hanson Planning Board Backs Nurses Quarters Rehab Study, Endorses East Washington Lot Split

HANSON -- July 13, 2026, Hanson Planning Board unanimously forwards a $1.2 million to $2.3 million feasibility study on the town's vacant former nurses quarters to the Select Board. Tracy Marquis and Laurie Rainey of Marquis Architecture presented the study for 228 High Street, the sole remaining building on the former Queens County Tuberculosis Hospital campus, describing a base rehabilitation scope of $1.2 million covering first-floor accessibility, restroom renovation, and minimal mechanical upgrades, with a full alternate scope reaching $1.9 million if second-floor accessibility and an elevator are added; sprinkler-system requirements, estimated at $210,000 to $275,000, could push total costs to $2.3 million. The town administrator identified the Community Preservation Committee, the state one-stop underutilized properties grant program, and potential public-private partnership as funding avenues. The board also voted 5-0 to endorse an approval-not-required lot-line reconfiguration at 246 and 248 East Washington Street filed by Egan Development LLC as a precursor to a proposed 10-lot subdivision. The planner separately flagged the governor's signing of House Bill 5555, which amended the state Zoning Act retroactive to July 1, 2026, and said bylaw changes will be required.