Orleans ZBA unanimously approves two waterfront special permits at March hearing

ORLEANS — March 18, 2026 — Orleans Zoning Board clears two waterfront special permits in unanimous votes. The Orleans Zoning Board of Appeals voted 5-0 on each of three actions at its March 18 meeting, approving an amended special permit for a rebuilt dwelling at 355 Tonset Road and a new single-family dwelling at 65 Towhee Lane while also allowing a building-coverage relief request for the Tonset Road project to be withdrawn without prejudice. Attorney Benjamin Zehnder told the board that design revisions — trimming the guest house, an enclosed porch, the front entryway, and a covered water-facing porch — had brought the Lavelle project's total coverage below 4,000 square feet, eliminating the need for one of two original permits. The Towhee Lane project, proposed by 65 Towhee, LLC with developer Don Bliss, totals 5,260 square feet of combined building coverage, including a pre-existing 1,130-square-foot boathouse, on a lot with 42,855 square feet of upland and a lot coverage of 12.3 percent. Jane Rocklin of 58 Towhee Lane told the board the five existing homes on the narrow lane already total 25 bedrooms and asked, "Why isn't 4,000 feet enough?" Member David Lyttle, who chaired the meeting, conditioned the Towhee Lane approval on strict compliance with the Conservation Commission's Order of Conditions.