55-plus housing development proposed at and around driving range

By Scott Calzolaio

This could be the last summer to hit a Happy Gilmore at the Mendon Driving Range as plans for a 55-plus community at Hastings and Washington Streets are making their way through town boards.

Developers held a public hearing over the course of three Mendon Planning Board meetings to discuss the proposed mixed-use project at the current site of the driving range and the former Barry’s Place Lounge. 

The Planning Board approved the special permit for the site plan review at its May 13 meeting. The plan will also need various approvals from the Board of Health, the Conservation Commission, and others before anything is final.

According to the Notice of Intent filed in March 2024, “The project site is located at 35, 37 Hastings Street and 18, 20 Washington Street in Mendon, MA. The site is an  approximately 18.3-acre developed property. 35 and 37 Hastings Street is developed with ‘Barrys Place’ and a large golf driving range. 18 and 20 Washington Street are developed with a single-family house.”

The assembled parcels, purchased by Kevin Meehan under Hastings Plaza LLC in 2018 and 2020, and Determination Inc. in 2021, have frontage along Route 16 and Washington Street; and 16.53 acres are considered developable. The southwest portion of the lot is protected wetland under local bylaw.

Meehan is seeking a “special permit for alteration from the preexisting non-conforming use as a Gold Driving Range (prohibited in the Rural Residential and General Business Districts) to a Shopping Center (specially permitted in the General Business District).” 

Marlborough engineering group Tetra Tech, Inc. represents Meehan on this project. Senior Project Manager Matt Moyen, who was present for the hearings, said that keeping the aesthetic of Mendon is important to both his client, Meehan, and the town.

“We focused the majority of the residential development to the interior site to both maintain the existing character of Washington Street, and minimize the impacts on the surrounding waters,” he said at one of the hearings.

The project would require a road to be built at the location, creating a four-way intersection, and pushing the need for a traffic light at that location. The lot has an additional Route 16 entrance to the far right, as well as emergency vehicle access to Washington Street.

The road will not be a through-way to Washington Street, but instead will circle around a development of 32 units, four of which will be considered “affordable housing.”

The plan also includes a market-type building, outdoor retail space, salon, walking path, water systems, and a single family, barn-style home to replace an existing structure.

Stormwater will be handled in a closed drainage network. The system is designed to capture and convey the runoff through an onsite treatment system. 

There were a number of concerns voiced by both the board and a few residents, such as parking, environmental impact, traffic, snow removal, and others. 

The project will continue to move through town government before any final decisions are made.

Additional documents can be found at www.mendonma.gov/conservation-commission/news/public-documents-35-37-hastings-st. A recording of the May 13 Planning Board meeting can be found at www.youtube.com/watch?v=0Oa-BHg4niQ.