Zoning Board Approves Variance for Lawrence Plain Home
Hadley's Zoning Board of Appeals approved a variance letting a father build his daughter a house on his Lawrence Plain Road property.
Zoning Board · Meeting of September 8, 2026
Hadley's Zoning Board of Appeals approved a variance letting a father build his daughter a house on his Lawrence Plain Road property. The board voted 3-0, with Chair Andrew Bombardier and members Jason Galvin and Iris Tang all in favor, after finding the shape of applicant Richard Costello's 4.3-acre parcel and a steep riverside bank created a "practical difficulty" justifying the encroachment. The variance, granted under Section 6.2 of the Hadley Zoning Bylaw, allows the proposed roughly 1,000-square-foot house's garage corner to sit as close as 16.4 feet from a planned 210-foot private way, closer than the standard setback.
Costello's project still needs Planning Board approval of a "very small subdivision," since the lot lacks sufficient frontage on Lawrence Plain Road itself. Bombardier said the plan "weighs in favor of granting the variance" because it adds to Hadley's housing stock on a former nursery site, and board members said abutters raised no objections.
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Source: the Zoning Board meeting of September 8, 2026, reported from the official video recording and transcript.
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