Marshfield ZBA allows Ocean Street redevelopment to withdraw, reset application process

MARSHFIELD -- March 24, 2026, Marshfield Zoning Board votes 5-1 to let Ocean Street redevelopment reset amid public process debate. The Board of Appeals Tuesday allowed the Drusopolis Family to withdraw case 25-70, covering properties at 239 through 287 Ocean Street in the Brant Rock Overlay District, without prejudice, enabling a revised application to be filed with a clean set of variance and special permit requests. Member Steve Lynch cast the sole dissenting vote, arguing the repeated changes were unfair to residents who had attended multiple hearings: "To keep changing the plans, or to keep continuing it, or withdraw it and come back, it's not fair to them." Chair Brian Murphy countered that the applicant deserved the chance to return with a correct application, calling the withdrawal "more forward with the community." In uncontested action, the board unanimously granted a special permit to Diane Bradley to raze and replace a non-conforming home at 222 Texas Street, with the new structure improving the front setback from 10.6 to 21 feet, and voted to hold a bylaw workshop on Thursday, May 7, at 6 p.m. to draft amendments, including streamlined approvals for minor alterations to non-conforming structures and a rewrite of the sign bylaw, targeting fall Town Meeting.