Gold Dog housing development gets P&Z approval in Sharon

SHARON — Gold Dog LLC, the applicant behind a long-contested housing development in Sharon, was given the Planning and Zoning Commission’s nod to move forward with the project on Wednesday, Aug. 13.

The plans call for a 24-unit condominium complex of 12 duplexes arranged around a central driveway and cul-de-sac, situated on grove-like woodland between Hospital Hill Road and Amenia Road.

While not designated as affordable, the development may help provide some much needed diversification of Sharon’s housing market, several of the project’s supporters have said.

The approval was delayed from the Commission’s last meeting in July in expectation of a third-party review of the application’s stormwater runoff plans among other technical details, which was received in early August. At the July meeting the commission showed preliminary signs of approving the project, which has been hotly contested since P&Z reviewed a previous application from Gold Dog in 2023 that was denied.

That tone held last Wednesday, when P&Z Secretary and Fire Marshall and Building Official Stanley MacMillan Jr. read a motion to approve the plans. The motion, which is available in full in the Aug. 13 meeting’s minutes on the town website, stated the project is “consistent with infrastructure capacity and the development of the community” and “will allow for a reasonable use of the property which is consistent with the character of the underlying zone.”

The motion, which passed unanimously, contained 16 conditions of approval, including: the establishment of a homeowner’s association; that open space on the property, which is planned to be the majority of the eight-acre parcel, be conserved under easement; and that a six-foot tall non-transparent fence be built on either side of the proposed entrance driveway to the development on Hospital Hill Road to protect neighbors privacy, which has been one of the hottest subjects of debate throughout the hearing process.

Carol Flaton, who serves on the town’s Board of Finance, has submitted several letters advocating for the project since the hearing began in the spring. After the decision on Wednesday, she reiterated her stance: “I respect and understand the concerns that the neighbors have but this proposal is exactly what’s in the zoning regulations,” adding that she felt the plans align with the town’s Plan of Conservation and Development.

“It just kind of fits,” she said.

Residents in closer proximity to the development site were less pleased by P&Z’s verdict. “[P&Z] couldn’t care less about the neighbors,” said Pablo Cisilino outside Town Hall. Cisilino owns 71 Hospital Hill Road with his wife Silvina Leone, and both have been outspoken against the project since its application fell onto the Land Use Office’s desk. Cisilino said he would promptly speak to his attorney about possible avenues of recourse.

“We’re definitely going to do something,” he said as he stepped into his car.