Carver Planning Board hears 240-unit 40R pitch, continues two solar permits

CARVER -- February 10, 2026, Carver Planning Board hears conceptual pitch for 240-unit mixed-use 40R development in North Carver. Consultant Art Borden and property owner Constantine Costas presented a non-engineered concept for four residential buildings plus roughly 20,000 square feet of retail and 423 parking spaces off Route 44, framing the Chapter 40R smart-growth overlay as preferable to a 40B fallback that Costas said he would pursue otherwise. Town Counsel Amy Quessel noted that Middleborough had successfully layered an MBTA overlay atop an existing 40R district and that the planning board would serve as project plan approval authority under 40R. One board member pushed back, warning that the Route 44 intersection is already "abysmal" and that a nearby business park could add 8,000 to 9,000 vehicle trips per day on top of the development's own traffic. The board also voted unanimously to close the public hearing on Tremont Street Solar 1 LLC's multi-component bog solar project, after reaching tentative agreement on screening conditions tied to interconnection, and continued the Wareham Street Solar 2 LLC hearing to February 24 pending town counsel's review of whether the town's battery storage bylaw covers solar-coupled systems.