Planning Board Approves Street Waivers, Delays Surety

Planning Board · Meeting of October 14, 2026

Fall River's Planning Board approved all design waivers for a new roadway off Norwood and Monarch streets, overriding staff advice against waiving street trees, and tabled a developer's surety-reduction request. Director of Engineering and Planning Dan Aguiar recommended five of six waivers and advised against waiving required street trees, but the board, led by Vice Chair Michael Farias, approved the full waiver package 3-0. The board also declined to cut Highland Woods subdivision surety from $225,000 to $100,000 as Aguiar proposed, after member Gloria Pacheco said she was "leery of approving this because the cost of everything has increased so much." The board tabled that request pending an itemized cost breakdown.

Separately, the board endorsed four Approval Not Required plans at Lewis Street, Orswell Street, Highland Avenue and Brayton Avenue, and required revisions to a fifth, at 99 Jones Street.

In the full story:

• Attendance and procedural setup
• Old business: Spring Street roadway reconstruction
• Old business: Norwood and Monarch Street roadway reconstruction and design waivers
• Old business: Highland Woods subdivision surety reduction request
• New business: Form A Approval Not Required (ANR) endorsements
• Substantive content and outcomes
• Approval of minutes and adjournment
• Who Was There
• Organizations And Documents Referenced
• The complete report: 2,105 words

Source: the Planning Board meeting of October 14, 2026, reported from the official video recording and transcript.

Checked against the record: before publication this article was automatically compared with the meeting transcript.