Hanson Planning Board Rejects Spring Street Demolition-Redevelopment Plan, Eyes $7 Million Highway Project

HANSON -- March 23, 2026, Hanson Planning Board sends Spring Street redevelopment to ZBA with a thumbs-down. At the March 23 meeting, Town Planner Tony Clapper argued that a proposal to demolish a longtime two-family structure at 27 Spring Street and replace it with a duplex and two detached accessory dwelling units does not qualify as a protected "alteration" of a nonconforming structure under the town's zoning bylaw, it is a reconstruction, he said, and "once you tear down that building and it's completely gone, you're losing that protection." No zoning records or assessor documentation confirming the property's two-family status could be found. The board voted 4-0 to forward the application to ZBA with an unfavorable recommendation. In other action, Clapper unveiled a roughly $7 million debt-exclusion plan to rebuild the town's highway department campus with a 14,200-square-foot steel garage, a new salt shed, and a modular office building for youth sports programs, with construction targeted for spring through winter 2027 at no net tax increase to residents.