Housing idea for Tibbitz parcel prompts board debate over role and scope

The possibility of placing a small amount of housing on a portion of the Tibbitz Road parcel surfaced during the board's site-review discussion and prompted a contested exchange over the board's role.

PCLB member Steve Zamareski said the parcel "is potentially in my mind buildable portion of it... at the end of the road build a parking lot as the land trust wanted to do. Put in some version of some small amount of housing in that field area right there," and described interest from the housing alliance in exploring options. Several other members objected to introducing potential housing uses during the board's conservation review, saying the committee's charge is to assess properties for conservation value and to make recommendations to the council accordingly.

Tom Hall, town manager, said the town's real estate disposition policy defines the board's advisory role and that other advisory bodies (including the housing alliance) could submit separate recommendations to the council. The board agreed to proceed with scoring and said members retain the procedural right to 'divide out' any parcel from the slate for separate consideration before the council step; no board action was taken to change ownership status or to authorize housing exploration.

Outcome: the board did not adopt any direction to pursue housing at Tibbitz; the question was left for the housing alliance and the town council to consider as separate matters.