Harwich Zoning Board Grants Two Special Permits for Non-Conforming Home Additions

HARWICH — February 25, 2026 — Harwich Board of Appeals unanimously approved special permits for additions at two non-conforming properties on February 25. Chair Brian Sullivan presided over a four-member panel — with members Chris Murphy, John August, and Kenneth Dixon — that voted 4-0 on each case under Zoning Bylaw Section 325-54A and MGL Chapter 40A, Section 6. The first permit, Case 2026-03, allows Lisa M. Irvine to build a single-story rear addition at 88 Willow Street, with architect Tom Carlone confirming the revised plan steps back to maintain the existing roughly 16.5-foot side-yard non-conformity. The second, Case 2026-04, clears James Martin's 175 Lower County LLC to renovate and expand a dwelling at 175 Lower County Road, removing a portion that sits 6.1 feet from the Manderville Road street layout and replacing it with construction set back 13.1 feet; that approval carries a condition barring exterior work between June 30 and Labor Day each year. Following the votes, Sullivan opened discussion — without a formal vote — on whether low-height structures under 4 feet permitted into setbacks by right should be allowed to anchor Gaile-case intensification claims, a question the board said it would continue to examine.