logo
Sandwich town election 2025: Who's on the ballot, where to vote

Sandwich town election 2025: Who's on the ballot, where to vote

Yahoo11-04-2025

The annual Sandwich town election will include three contested races, a race for Planning Board that currently has no candidates, and two ballot questions.
"The Planning Board is always kind of a difficult seat to fill," said Town Clerk Taylor White. "But it's never been completely blank before."
Elections will be held on May 8.
There is one seat open with two people running for constable; three people running for two seats in the School Committee race, and three people running for one seat for the Select Board.
Candus Susan Thomson of Sandwich is running against Ralph Anthony Vitacco of Forestdale for the three-year constable post.
School Committee incumbent Danielle M. Binienda of East Sandwich, is running against Alexandra Marie Higgins of East Sandwich, and Megan Tammaro of Sandwich for one three-year School Committee seat.
Dennis Edwin Newman of Forestdale; Gene John Parini of Sandwich and David J. Sampson of Forestdale are all running for a one-year unexpired term on the Select Board. The position became vacant upon the death of board member Michael Miller.
With no candidates running for Planning Board, and two full three-year seats open, the ballot will have two write-in candidate options.
"Both spots are up for grabs," said White.
Ballot Question 1 is related to a surcharge amendment for the town's special Municipal Water Infrastructure Investment Fund. The dedicated funding source can be spent on maintenance, improvements and investments to municipal drinking, wastewater and stormwater infrastructure assets.
The funding source is a surcharge on the annual property tax assessed on real property. The surcharge originally accepted by the town is 2%. The amendment will increase the surcharge from 2 to 3%, starting July 1, 2026.
Voters will also consider a non-binding public advisory ballot question related to Holtec, owner of the Pilgrim Nuclear Power Station in Plymouth. Voters will decide whether they want the town to tell Gov. Maura Healey and Attorney General Andrea Campbell to do whatever's necessary to stop Holtec from releasing gaseous discharge of the radioactively and chemically contaminated industrial wastewater at Pilgrim. According to the ballot question, releasing the gaseous discharge violates the Ocean Sanctuary Act.
Precincts 1-3 will vote at Corpus Christi Parish Hall, 324 Quaker Meetinghouse Road and voters in Precincts 4-6 will vote at Center For Active Living, 70 Quaker Meetinghouse Road.
Rachael Devaney writes about community and culture. Reach her at rdevaney@capecodonline.com. Follow her on Twitter: @RachaelDevaney.
Thanks to our subscribers, who help make this coverage possible. If you are not a subscriber, please consider supporting quality local journalism with a Cape Cod Times subscription. Here are our subscription plans.
This article originally appeared on Cape Cod Times: Town election in Sandwich set for May 8. Who's running

Orange background

Try Our AI Features

Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:

Comments

No comments yet...

Related Articles

Should Pittsfield restructure middle school grades?
Should Pittsfield restructure middle school grades?

Yahoo

time5 days ago

  • Yahoo

Should Pittsfield restructure middle school grades?

PITTSFIELD, Mass. (WWLP) – The Pittsfield School District is also looking to hear from residents on the proposal to restructure middle school grades. They're considering redistricting the middle schools to divide the city's two schools by grade, rather than location. It would create one school for students in 5th and 6th grade, and another for 7th and 8th. Education Department pausing plan to garnish Social Security checks over defaulted loans They say it'll help them focus more on the needs of each group. The School Committee is holding a public hearing on Wednesday, June 11th, at City Hall at 5:15 p.m. Following the public hearing, the School Committee will determine whether to move the proposal forward for a vote on June 25th. If the committee votes to approve the change, it would go into effect in the fall. WWLP-22News, an NBC affiliate, began broadcasting in March 1953 to provide local news, network, syndicated, and local programming to western Massachusetts. Watch the 22News Digital Edition weekdays at 4 p.m. on Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

Decision deferred on high-rise student tower blocks by Deptford Creek
Decision deferred on high-rise student tower blocks by Deptford Creek

Yahoo

time30-05-2025

  • Yahoo

Decision deferred on high-rise student tower blocks by Deptford Creek

A decision on whether two high-rise blocks of student accommodation by Deptford Creek will be built has been deferred after councillors voted for a site visit. Greenwich Council's Planning Board discussed the contentious plans—which garnered 294 letters of support and 251 objections—for nearly two-and-a-half hours on Tuesday evening (May 27). Luxury student accommodation business YourTRIBE and development and investment company Redington Capital first applied for planning permission to demolish three low-rise residential buildings in Greenwich Quay and replace them with 20-storey and 15-storey student tower blocks in December 2023. These plans were reduced earlier this month, bringing the 20 storeys down to 17 and shrinking the number of beds from 700 to 598. This reduction in part was because Maritime Greenwich had objected to the plans due to the height of the development and its potential visual effect on the nearby UNESCO World Heritage Site. Maritime Greenwich withdrew its objection after the height of the tallest tower was reduced. Cllr Majella Anning, speaking on behalf of Greenwich Creekside ward where the development site is located, stated that the student provision in Creekside would increase to around 20 per cent of the ward's total population if the proposal was approved. She said: 'I am in favour of the provision of student housing in my ward. What I object to is the scale of what is being proposed and the lack of a mixed housing offer, in particular social housing for local Greenwich residents.' Cllr Anning also likened the development to a 'cash cow' and claimed that developers would pay a lower community infrastructure levy in Greenwich when compared to other London boroughs. She also called the height of the buildings 'completely inappropriate' and described them as looking 'ugly'. She added: 'Student-only tower blocks do not offer any relief to the 28,000 people on our Greenwich Council [social housing] waiting list. These are blocks of temporary accommodation, by their very definition.' Cllr Anning's fellow Creekside ward Cllr Calum O'Byrne Mulligan also spoke in opposition to the proposal. He said: 'I urge the committee to reject this application as the scale and mass of the buildings not in a tall building area go against existing council policy. 'I fear that this development risks the intangible strategic asset that we have in the world heritage site and jeopardises protected views, going against our local plan.' Scott Fitzgerald of the Millennium Quay Residents Association (a residential development nearby the proposal site) said: 'The public consultations held by YOURTribe have repeatedly failed to address reasonable concerns.' The concerns he focused on were those of access to the site via Clarence Road which measures 3.5 metres wide, and fears that the site does not have adequate space if an evacuation was needed. He said: 'This development is about short-term economic gain, not long-term community diversity… It prioritises financial return over inclusive, sustainable living and would turn Greenwich Quay into a de facto student dormitory, not a diverse residential neighbourhood.' Another Greenwich resident opposed to the plans, Charlotte Kiddie, said: 'Who benefits from this proposal? Not those on the social housing register, not local residents, not London which risks losing one of only four UNESCO sites, not Greenwich Council, unable to generate council tax, nor even the students who are being overcharged. The only party that benefits in this is the property developer.' Phoebe Juggins, senior planning manager at YOURTribe, spoke in support of the application. She said: 'We expect that through delivering 590 purpose-built student accommodation units, we will free up the equivalent of 236 homes in Greenwich, and will importantly mean that students are living in a well-managed and supportive environment. 'We want this scheme to not only invest in the education of the next generation, but to the local area, delivering £7.3 million annually to the local economy, 43 full-time jobs plus over 500 construction jobs.' Ms Juggins also responded to queries brought up by councillors and objectors, assuring that all the necessary hoops had been jumped through to ensure the development has a robust fire safety and evacuation strategy. Planning committee member Cllr David Gardner asked what students would actually be able to afford this accommodation, calculating that other rent prices offered by YOURTribe in London exceed the maximum student loan for living costs. YOURTribe director Nick Lawrence responded: 'I think it's a misnomer that all students are poor. We are having high demand for our accommodation, and in conjunction with the universities we set the rent.' Cllr David Gardner proposed a site visit because he thought the committee needed to look at 'the impact on the neighbouring development Millennium Quay'. This was seconded by Cllr Olu Babatola, who thought a site visit would help him assess the fire safety concerns raised at the meeting. The committee voted for this site visit proposal, and a final decision on whether planning permission will be granted has been deferred until after a visit has been made.

City Council and Planning Board review zoning changes for ‘higher and better use'
City Council and Planning Board review zoning changes for ‘higher and better use'

Yahoo

time28-05-2025

  • Yahoo

City Council and Planning Board review zoning changes for ‘higher and better use'

WESTFIELD — The City Council and Planning Board are reviewing zoning change requests to allow property owners more options for use of their properties in Westfield. The requests will be reviewed in the Zoning, Planning and Development Committee chaired by Karen Fanion. Rob Levesque of R. Levesque Associates presented a request by Alice Wielgus to the City Council on May 15 to amend the zoning map at 14 and 170 Main St. from Rural Residence and Residence B to Residence C for a portion of the property. Levesque said the family is requesting that approximately 8 acres on Main Street, where they sell roses for Mother's Day, be rezoned to Residence C, and leave the approximately 30 acres in the rear, which is in the floodplain, as Rural Residential. Levesque said the family understands there has been interest over the years in the rear portion of the property for ball fields, and they generally like the idea. He said the Main Street portion of the property abuts a townhouse style condominium community that is zoned Residence C, and they would like to be able to utilize the front in similar way for condo development of multi-family townhouses, which he said would also be meeting the need for housing in the state. Levesque said the change in zoning would help them to think about what they would like to do with the property in the future. During the discussion in the City Council, there were questions of where the access to the property would be, both the front and the rear. Levesque said the corner of Noble Street which leads into a farm road would be the most logical place. Councilor Kristen Mello raised floodplain concerns, and said the GIS plan shows it coming up into the building area in the front. Levesque said the stormwater infrastructure would get into a bit of the flood zone. The hearing at the City Council was continued for a review by the city engineer. At the Planning Board on May 20, Levesque said the zoning change to Residence C would be for someone, likely not the family, to turn into housing similar to the adjacent condominium project in the front ten percent of the property, and leave the 50-plus acres in the rear property as Rural Residential. He said after the discussion at the City Council, they pulled the front portion further away from the flood zone, and made a sketch of a potential townhouse style residential project that could go there. Asked whether the access on Noble Street would be for both the rear property and for the housing development, Levesque said that would be preferable, but if not, there would be plenty of access points to the housing development on Main Street. Planning Board chair William Carellas said he was happy that they were not requesting spot zoning, as there is plenty of Residence C in the area, before the Planning Board made a unanimous positive recommendation to the City Council for the project. The Planning Board also positively recommended three other zoning change requests that came before the City Council, and were referred to the Zoning, Planning and Development Committee. The second zoning change request was by Mike Ventrice, owner of TV Realty & Development to change his 17-acre property on Lockhouse Road from Industrial A to Residence C, for future housing development of 25 duplexes. Ventrice said his property is 75 feet from Arch Road, with frontage on Lockhouse where the road is one-way with the one-lane railroad bridge. He said he has a meeting on June 3 with the Traffic Commission to discuss reverting the road back to two-way. Robert McKay of 27 Ridgeway Ave., an abutter on the other side of the railroad tracks, said many years ago, that section of Lockhouse that is one-way used to be two-ways, but he said it was changed for safety reasons to one-way. 'It was nice when it was two-way, but there were a lot of accidents at that bridge.' 'His property is a lot farther away from the bridge. I guess that becomes a traffic issue,' said Carellas after the unanimous positive recommendation from the Planning Board. Also recommended was a petition of Michael Sajewicz, the owner of Arrow Pharmacy to amend the zoning map at 66 Holyoke Rd. from Residence B to Business B (portion). Levesque, also representing Sajewicz, said the purpose of the zoning change would be to extend Business B from the pharmacy on a contiguous piece of property, to allow them to utilize the property for a similar or related use. The house on Holyoke Road, which is part of the property being requested for a zoning change, would remain as residential, and in the future be separated as a residential lot. Sajewicz owns the three contiguous lots. Asked what the plans are for the rear lot, Levesque said the first stop is to get the back rezoned, but there is no specific project at this point. 'In a perfect world … symbiotic uses that would work well with the pharmacy. Looking at it, it made sense to try to revamp the back of the property,' Levesque said. He said right now, they are separate parcels, and the idea would be making it one contiguous property, that would allow for 'higher and better use than what we could do on the property there now.' Also under discussion in both bodies is to amend the zoning ordinance to expand uses allowed in the Industrial A district. City Planner Jay Vinskey spoke at the Planning Board meeting on behalf of Councilor Brent Bean. He said during the last discussion, the board recommended some uses to be added to Industrial A, and that list was proposed to the City Council. He said the only change the Planning Board recommended that didn't make it through the committee was to only allow Commercial A uses in existing buildings in Industrial A, in order to avoid new shopping centers being built. 'I would agree — only for uses in existing buildings,' said Carellas. Planning Board member Richard Salois said one of the biggest concerns he had was that they build a strip mall. 'There is a reason for the use of existing buildings there,' he said. 'I believe back in April, that was not the intention, but to use empty warehouses that could go in a Commercial A district, or conversion or expansion of a building or a portion thereof for the new uses,' said board member Cheryl Crowe. Among the Commercial A uses that would be permitted by-right in Industrial A are neighborhood retail store not in excess of 750 feet; service-oriented stores such as a barber shop or beautician, but not laundry or dry-cleaning; retail service or custom stores, but no booth or restaurant facilities; branch bank, medical or dental clinic. Read the original article on MassLive.

DOWNLOAD THE APP

Get Started Now: Download the App

Ready to dive into the world of global news and events? Download our app today from your preferred app store and start exploring.
app-storeplay-store