Whitman Zoning Board Approves Town's First ADU, Reshapes Daycare Field House

WHITMAN -- March 23, 2026, Whitman's Zoning Board of Appeals unanimously approved the town's first accessory dwelling unit under its updated bylaw and conditionally approved a field house for a Warren Avenue daycare center. The board voted 5-0 on both cases at its March 23 meeting, chaired by John Goldrosen. The ADU, a 900-square-foot two-bedroom detached unit at 74 Alden Street, is designed for the parents of owner Suzanne Sautak at a cost the applicant's builder estimated at $425,000 to $475,000 all-in; engineer Max Coppola of Grady Consulting confirmed the unit's gross floor area sits at exactly the state-permitted maximum. The 28-by-41-foot field house at 127 Warren Avenue, proposed by daycare owner Dan Sweeney, was approved with conditions requiring 10-foot setbacks on all sides, up from the requested five feet, after Deputy Chief Nicholas Grasso said the narrower margin would hamper emergency access; the board also required a screening fence along the boundary with the abutting property at 117 Warren Avenue following pointed public comment from a neighbor who said she has lived next door for 58 years. Goldrosen noted three additional ADU applications are already in the pipeline.