Ware Planning Board Approves Estate Lot Split, Hears Gravel Pit Habitat Plan

Planning Board · Meeting of March 20, 2026

Ware Planning Board unanimously approves estate lot division and common driveway permit while hearing a preliminary habitat-restoration pitch tied to gravel extraction near Muddy Brook. The board approved an approval-not-required plan for a parcel at 275 Maltby Road owned by Sean Crivia, splitting the property into two estate lots — 10.65 acres and a larger parcel — each exceeding the 300,000-square-foot minimum, separated by a narrow barn-access strip designated as not buildable. A second unanimous vote approved a special permit for a shared driveway serving the lots.

Landowner Fred Smith then presented a conceptual proposal to partner with Mass Wildlife, extracting gravel near Muddy Brook while reshaping the terrain for wood turtle nesting habitat and rare barrens plant communities, with the full parcel ultimately donated to Mass Wildlife; engineer Kalisto Burton of Burton Engineering is attached to the project. Board members expressed support in principle but asked Smith to return with a phased plan and evidence that the aquifer would not be adversely affected, saying "we don't want to trade, fix one problem and create another."

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Source: the Planning Board meeting of March 20, 2026, reported from the official video recording and transcript.