Littleton Planning Board Hears ADU Bylaw Overhaul and King Street Design Critique

LITTLETON — January 8, 2025 — Littleton Planning Board reviews state-mandated ADU bylaw overhaul and hears sharp architectural critique of King Street Common phase one design. At the January 8 joint meeting with the Affordable Housing Trust and Board of Appeals, MAPC planner Gwendolyn Helen Sands walked the board through a draft accessory dwelling unit bylaw required under the state's Affordable Homes Act, which took effect February 2, 2025 — noting that Littleton's most locally consequential choice is whether to bar separate condominium ownership of ADUs, a provision the state has neither endorsed nor prohibited and that drew divided public comment. The board also heard from Jesse Yang of Utile, who delivered an architectural peer review of the Lopoli Companies' phase one retail and residential proposal at 550 King Street, finding that buildings along King Street turn their backs on the street, primary massing volumes exceed form-based code dimensional limits by as much as 30 feet, and applying form-based code parking standards rather than base zoning would cut the required parking count from 487 to 344 spaces — potentially shrinking the proposed parking garage. Lopoli representative Morgan Pearson acknowledged the findings and committed to a comprehensive revised plan at the January 29 continuation, telling the board "we cannot and we will not turn our backs on King Street." Building Commissioner Henry Fontaine told the board he is currently aware of seven permitted ADUs in town.