Tewksbury Planning Board Approves Two Permits, Continues Contested 90-Unit Housing Development

TEWKSBURY -- December 15, 2025, Tewksbury Planning Board approves two special permits and continues a disputed 90-unit senior housing project to February over Route 38 driveway safety. The board voted unanimously to approve a family suite special permit for Richard Dwyer at 111 Rockvale Road and a commercial-to-residential conversion special permit for 960 Main Street Development LLC, with applicant John D. Sullivan confirming the building is 100 percent occupied and the two new units would be affordable. The board also unanimously approved raising its abutter mailing fee from $1 to $2 per unit to cover rising postage costs. On the proposed 15 and 41 Astle Street 90-unit, 55-and-older development, town peer reviewer Jeffrey Dirk of Vanasse and Associates called the proposed Main Street driveway location, situated within a lane-drop zone near the region's 40th highest-crash intersection, "not desirable," and noted the submitted MassDOT driveway permit was expired and had not been formally issued. At least three Astle Street residents told the board the street already backs up through multiple light cycles, with resident Walter DeGran declaring "the project is too big" for the site; board members rejected using Astle Street as a secondary exit by a margin of roughly four to one, with only member Patrick Duffy expressing openness to the idea.