Berlin Planning Board flags legal vulnerability in affordable housing zoning mandate

BERLIN -- April 14, 2026, Berlin Planning Board flags legal risk in inclusionary zoning and eyes $20,000 in town meeting warrant articles. At its April 14 remote session, Chair Tom Sanford reported that town counsel has advised the board that Berlin's existing inclusionary zoning requirement, which compels an affordable housing component in certain subdivisions with no corresponding benefit to the applicant, is of questionable legal authority, calling it "a substantial question as to whether the imposition" of such a mandate without a "concomitant benefit" is authorized. No applicant has challenged the provision to date, largely because most triggering projects have been 40B developments or have fallen just under the five-unit threshold. The board intends to address the gap through an ongoing zoning bylaw rewrite tied to a $15,000 warrant article heading to town meeting, alongside a separate $5,000 master plan appropriation; the Finance Committee has signaled support for both. On the Solomon Pond Mall redevelopment, a cross-border project shared with Marlborough, Sanford said Berlin and Marlborough remain aligned in requiring special permits and that no new proposal has been submitted by the proponents. The board also voted unanimously to pay $120.96 to the Clinton Item for two public hearing notices, and discussed an uneven transition to a new regional building inspector who began April 1 with no overlap with his predecessor.