Easthampton Planning Board Endorses Cold Spring Road Lot Merger, Flags Registry Deed Irregularity

EASTHAMPTON — August 6, 2025 — Easthampton Planning Board approves routine items, flags unendorsed Maple Street deed at Registry. The board voted unanimously August 6 to endorse a lot merger for Thomas Hankins at 13-15 Cold Spring Road, authorize a building permit for a previously approved 11-kilowatt ground-mount solar installation at one Cook Road for Mark Gerard, and approve a fiscal year 2026 consulting contract with planner Richard Harris not to exceed $2,500 — drawn from a revolving account that holds roughly $3,000 after years of drawdown. The most sustained discussion centered on a Maple Street parcel that was apparently sold for one dollar and recorded at the Hampshire County Registry of Deeds without a Planning Board-endorsed survey plan, which members said is required under Massachusetts subdivision control law. Chair Paul Deamond said he found no record of an A&R application for the parcel and raised concerns that the lot lacks sufficient frontage for two conforming lots under the town's 175-foot residential rural standard, meaning the board likely could not have approved the split even if asked. Member Paul Fergal flagged that exhibit documents describing the parcel's metes and bounds appeared recently prepared despite being attributed to 1978 surveys, noting modern file-path footers inconsistent with that era. The board also tabled the town's Open Space and Recreation Plan overview for further review ahead of a September 25 response deadline, with members identifying a tension between the plan's goals to protect rural character and its calls for expanded affordable housing.