Freetown Planning Board Continues Two Subdivisions, Passes on 61A Land Purchase

FREETOWN -- December 3, 2024, Freetown Planning Board continues two subdivisions after falsified certified mail receipt surfaces. At the December 3 meeting, the board voted unanimously to push the three-lot 11 Walnut Street subdivision, applicant Michael Bicho, represented by Robert Perui of Hope Engineering Incorporated, to December 17, 2024, after abutter Christine Johansson of Mill Street told members she never received a hearing notice and that the certified mail receipt on file bore a signature that "we did not sign." The board also continued the eight-lot 32 Middleboro Road subdivision to January 7, 2025, for lack of engineering feedback, and unanimously declined the town's Chapter 61A right of first refusal on a two-thirds-acre cranberry bog portion at 81 Middleboro Road where owners Elton and Anarie Ashley plan to install solar panels. The chair separately flagged that Freetown charges $100 per lot in subdivision filing fees against roughly $1,000 per lot in neighboring Lakeville, Berkley, and Dighton, a gap he called "free money" left on the table.