Norton Planning Board Splits 5-2 on Mansfield Avenue Apartment Complex Special Permit

Planning Board · Meeting of March 17, 2026

Norton Planning Board voted 5-2 to approve special permits for a 72-unit apartment complex at 0 Mansfield Avenue, while unanimously approving a Taco Bell and continuing four other projects. The Mansfield Avenue project — two 36-unit buildings on roughly 12 acres remanded to the board by Bristol County Superior Court after a prior denial — cleared the multifamily use and affordable housing special permits 5-2, with members Rob, Steve, and Frank voting no; the site plan passed 7-0. Applicant attorney Jack Jacoby of Attleboro cited an 80-percent AMI affordability requirement covering eight units and a proposed 2,000-linear-foot gravity sewer extension as public benefits, telling the board "housing is an enormous need in this area." Abutter Jim Shabbat of 56 Mansfield Avenue raised procedural notice concerns, while Duncan McGowan of 60 Mansfield Avenue warned of existing basement flooding.

Town Council Amy Quessel confirmed abutters have a 20-day window to appeal to Land Court once the clerk files the decision. The board's unanimous Taco Bell approval covers a 2,165-square-foot drive-through at Great Woods Marketplace with hours of 9 a.m. to 2 a.m. Four additional projects — including a 21-lot Pine Street cluster subdivision, a 39-unit mixed-use building at 1861 West Main Street, a marijuana retail facility at 246 East Main Street, and a 35-unit two-building project at 0 West Main Street — were all continued to March 31, the last full meeting before a spring election changes the board's composition.

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Source: the Planning Board meeting of March 17, 2026, reported from the official video recording and transcript.