Zoning Board Continues Target Store Expansion Hearing
The Somerville Zoning Board of Appeals voted to continue a Target store expansion hearing and was briefed on a major state variance law change.
Zoning Board · Meeting of September 2, 2026
SOMERVILLE — The Somerville Zoning Board of Appeals voted to continue a Target store expansion hearing and was briefed on a major state variance law change. Interim Planning Director Dan Bartman told the board an emergency amendment to Massachusetts General Law Chapter 40A now forces the board to "grant" variances meeting a new "practical difficulty" test, reversing decades of local discretion and mandating residential use variances. Planner Kit Lester separately outlined a proposed amendment shifting most site plan and special permit authority to the Planning Board, citing 25 variances, 6 special permits and 3 administrative appeals heard last fiscal year.
The board voted 5-0 to continue Target Corporation's expansion case at 180 Somerville Avenue to October 14, after staff said a traffic study and "green score" sustainability verification were still missing. Member Zachary Zaremba said Somerville Avenue was "already extremely choked up with traffic."
In the full story:
- Who Was There
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- The complete report — 1,998 words
Source: the Zoning Board meeting of September 2, 2026, reported from the official video recording and transcript.
Checked against the record: before publication this article was automatically compared with the meeting transcript.
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