Lakeville to continue 30 Howland Road earth removal hearing to Dec. 1, may appoint land purchase committee members Tuesday
The board generally takes no public comment when a continuance is requested, the town administrator said. The applicant says the work would leave level land for future industrial and commercial use, possibly served by the rail line, while the town's peer reviewer and departments have asked for traffic, blasting and well studies and Freetown's selectmen want conditions on trucks and road costs.
SOUTH COAST Lakeville's hearing on a plan to blast and haul rock from 30 Howland Road will be continued to Tuesday, Dec. 1, at 6 p.m., at the applicant's request, according to the Select Board's agenda.
The board meets this Tuesday, Nov. 10, at 5:45 p.m. at the Lakeville Public Library, 4 Precinct St., and the hearing still appears on that agenda at 6 p.m. with the note that it will be continued to Dec. 1 at the library. The same agenda lists a possible vote to appoint members of a new committee studying whether the town should buy the land, and a possible closed-door session to consider the purchase, exchange, lease or value of 30 Howland Road.
Town Administrator Andrew Sukeforth said Nov. 3 that the applicant had asked for another continuance. "Generally, the Select Board does not take public comment during a public hearing when a continuance is requested," he said in an email.
The applicant, Carl Malloch for 30 Howland Road LLC, wants a permit to remove about 6.45 million cubic yards of rock from 167 wooded acres in work expected to last more than 10 years. The company says the work would turn a steep, wooded ridge into two level areas "suitable for future industrial and commercial development, including potential rail-oriented industrial uses," according to the project narrative its engineers filed with the town. The material would leave by truck, and later by rail if a planned siding is built.
What is proposed
The parcel covers about 566 acres in Lakeville's industrial zoning district, with about 3,675 feet of frontage on Howland Road and the CSX rail line along its eastern edge, according to the peer review the town commissioned. State forest land borders it to the south and west. The work would take in about 167 acres in the northeast part of the property.
The narrative, prepared by DiPrete Engineering, splits the job into three phases. Phases 1 and 2, along Howland Road and the rail line, would be cut to a finished elevation of about 90 feet; Phase 3, to the west, to about 120 feet. Ground on the site now reaches elevation 238, and cuts would reach about 100 feet deep, the peer review says. The narrative counts about 1.56 million cubic yards of rock in Phase 1, 1.44 million in Phase 2 and 3.46 million in Phase 3, with the soil above the rock to be reused on site.
Work would include drilling and blasting ledge, rock hammering, crushing, screening and stockpiling, from 7 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Saturday. The application asks for Oct. 1, 2026, to Oct. 1, 2036. Under the town bylaw an earth removal permit lasts one year, so the project would need yearly renewals, the peer reviewer noted.
The narrative names two truck routes: Howland Road to Freetown Street to County Road (Route 79) to Route 140, or Howland Road through Assonet to Route 24. Plans show a conceptual rail siding with four spur tracks for later.
The applicant's case
"The proposed work cannot reasonably be accomplished without the movement of earth due to the existing topography of the site," the narrative says. It says the digging would stay at least 400 feet from public ways and 100 feet from property lines and buildings, with finished slopes no steeper than 4 to 1, as the bylaw sets out. It lists watering of haul roads, sweeping of Howland Road, fencing and blasting by qualified contractors, and says sediment basins would collect the runoff and are designed for storms up to the 100-year event, to avoid harm to neighboring land, public ways, the railroad and wetlands.
What the reviewers asked for
BETA Group, the town's peer reviewer, wrote Oct. 8 that the application was "substantially completed" and listed what it still wants: a traffic study with truck trips by time of day, sight distances and five years of crash history at the Howland Road driveway; road condition evaluations before, during and after the work; and a clearer zoning basis, since earth removal is not listed in the town's table of uses. Its geotechnical subconsultant, GEI Consultants, asked for borings, groundwater monitoring, a survey of nearby private wells with a response plan, and pre-blast surveys and vibration monitoring.
BETA also raised the chance that "changing market conditions" could leave "an abandoned quarry," and said it defers to the Select Board on that question.
In comments dated Aug. 25, the police asked for a detail officer and for truck hours that avoid the school campus traffic times, and Public Works advised against using Freetown Street without road improvements. The town administration suggested a development agreement that could allow a limited first approval, "i.e. 200,000 yards allowed in year 1." Fire Chief Michael P. O'Brien wrote Aug. 28 that blasting would need its own permits and that "the earth removal approval should not be construed as authorization to conduct blasting." The Planning Board asked for noise and traffic peer reviews and for school drop-off and pickup traffic to be considered, and the schools' comments note the project sits on the main road to the school campus.
Freetown's Board of Selectmen wrote Sept. 3 that its town "will bear a significant portion of the transportation activity" and asked for permit conditions on truck routes, hours, dust, noise and road upkeep, and for an agreement between the towns so repair costs do not fall on "Freetown taxpayers."
The town looks at buying the land
On Oct. 6, at the applicant's request, the board continued the hearing to Nov. 10, its minutes show. The same night, the board voted 5-0 to create a nine-member 30 Howland Road Property Acquisition Advisory Committee. Sukeforth spoke of "the Town's willingness to research and find potential funding for a possible purchase of all or part of the 30 Howland Road property," the minutes say. The committee is to weigh purchase, conservation and subdivision and report by Jan. 31, 2027, if practical.
Appointing the committee's members was on the board's Nov. 4 agenda and is on the Nov. 10 agenda again, and the agenda report prepared for Nov. 4 said the Open Space Committee's member would be confirmed at the Nov. 10 meeting. The Nov. 10 agenda also lists a possible executive session under the state Open Meeting Law, which lets a board meet in private to consider the purchase, exchange, lease or value of real estate if the chair declares that an open meeting may hurt its negotiating position. The item names 30 Howland Road and says the board would not return to open session afterward.
What happens next
The continued hearing is set for Tuesday, Dec. 1, at 6 p.m. at the Lakeville Public Library, according to the Nov. 10 agenda, though the town's Howland Road Earth Removal project page still listed Nov. 10 as the next hearing date on Monday morning. When the board does take testimony, the town's hearing notice says any interested party should appear at the time and place set. Under the bylaw, the board may deny a permit it finds would create a nuisance or a risk to public health, safety or welfare, or approve it with conditions such as hours, truck routes and a bond.
The application, plans, peer review and comment letters are posted on the project page, and the Select Board office is at Town Hall, 346 Bedford St., 508-946-8800, ext. 4.
Label: Reported by us, from the town's posted records.
Notes
Every fact comes from the Town of Lakeville's own records listed below: the Select Board's Nov. 10 and Nov. 4 agendas, the project page, the permit application, the applicant's narrative, the code summary, the hearing notice, the town's peer review, the department, fire chief and Planning Board comments, Freetown's letter, and the Select Board's Oct. 6 minutes and committee charge in its Nov. 4 meeting packet. We read the earlier records Nov. 3 and the agendas and project page again Nov. 9. Town Administrator Andrew Sukeforth answered our questions by email Nov. 3. We checked each date and weekday against a calendar. Not heard: the applicant was asked for comment Nov. 3 and has not answered; any answer will be added.
Corrections
No corrections to this story. If something here is wrong, tell us. Every correction is dated on the story and listed in our public log.
Sources (14)
- Town of Lakeville, Select Board meeting posting and agenda, Tuesday, Nov. 10, 2026Scanned, 2 pages, Town Clerk stamp Nov. 5, 2026, 11:54 a.m.: meeting 5:45 p.m., Lakeville Public Library, 4 Precinct St.; item V.1, the 6 p.m. continued earth removal hearing, 30 Howland Road, "At the Request of Earth Removal Applicant, the October 6 hearing will be Continued to December 1, 2026, at 6:00 p.m. at the Lakeville Public Library"; item V.2, committee appointments; item XI, possible executive session under c. 30A, sec. 21 (a) (6), 30 Howland Road. Read Nov. 9, 2026.
- Town of Lakeville, Select Board meeting posting and agenda, Wednesday, Nov. 4, 2026Scanned, 2 pages, Town Clerk stamp Oct. 30, 2026: item V.2, appointments to the 30 Howland Road Property Acquisition Advisory Committee; next meeting Tuesday, Nov. 10, 5:45 p.m. Read Nov. 9, 2026.
- Town of Lakeville, Howland Road Earth Removal project pageNext hearing listed as Tuesday, Nov. 10, 6 p.m., Lakeville Public Library, 4 Precinct St., when read Nov. 3 and again Nov. 9, 2026; document list; Select Board office contact. Read Nov. 9, 2026.
- Permit Application for the Removal of Earth, 30 Howland RoadTown of Lakeville form, 1 page: applicant Carl Malloch, 30 Howland Road, LLC; Map 9, Lot 2-1; 6,453,850 cubic yards; Oct. 1, 2026, to Oct. 1, 2036. Read Nov. 3, 2026.
- Earth Removal Permit Narrative, 30 Howland Road, DiPrete Engineering, July 30, 2026Filed with the Lakeville Select Board, 6 pages: purpose, phase table, grading, methods, truck routes, rail siding, hours, duration, controls. Read Nov. 3, 2026.
- Earth Removal Permit, Code Summary (Lakeville Code Chapter 140)Applicant checklist against the bylaw, 2 pages: hearing, denial and conditions sections. Read Nov. 3, 2026.
- Lakeville Select Board, public hearing notice, Sept. 1, 2026Town of Lakeville, 1 page. Read Nov. 3, 2026.
- BETA Group, 30 Howland Road Earth Removal Peer Review, Oct. 8, 2026, with GEI Consultants geotechnical review, Oct. 1, 2026Letter to the Town Administrator, 7 pages plus attachments. Read Nov. 3, 2026.
- Initial Earth Removal Considerations and Department Comments, Aug. 25, 2026Police, fire, public works, administration, health, Planning Board and schools, 3 pages. Read Nov. 3, 2026.
- Lakeville Fire Chief Michael P. O'Brien, memo on 30 Howland Road, Aug. 28, 20262 pages. Read Nov. 3, 2026.
- Lakeville Planning Board comments on 30 Howland Road1 page. Read Nov. 3, 2026.
- Freetown Board of Selectmen, letter to the Lakeville Select Board, Sept. 3, 20262 pages, scanned. Read Nov. 3, 2026.
- Lakeville Select Board, Nov. 4, 2026 meeting materialsScanned packet: Oct. 6, 2026 minutes (continued hearing, committee vote), committee charge approved Oct. 6, Nov. 4 agenda item report on members. Read Nov. 3, 2026.
- Andrew Sukeforth, Lakeville Town Administrator, email to South Coast 360Received 3:18 p.m. Tue. Nov. 3, 2026: the applicant has requested another continuance; the Select Board generally does not take public comment during a hearing when a continuance is requested; members of the acquisition advisory committee will be appointed at the meeting. The link is the town project page.