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Lakeville Planning Board may vote Thursday on senior housing zoning for the Lakeville Country Club

The overlay was pulled from fall town meeting in September because its wording was not final, and the developer's own study puts the project's net gain to the town at about $2.1 million a year.

By the SC360 Town Hall Desk | Published Nov. 11, 2026 | Last verified Nov. 11, 2026, 12:51 p.m. ET

LAKEVILLE Updated 12:45 p.m. Nov. 11, 2026.

Lakeville's Planning Board meets with town counsel Thursday on a draft zoning overlay for the Lakeville Country Club, where a developer has proposed 418 homes for people 55 and older, and may vote.

The meeting starts at 6 p.m. Thursday, Nov. 12, at the Lakeville Police Station, 323 Bedford St., and the country club overlay is the first item on the board's revised agenda, listed as a discussion with town counsel and a possible vote.

Any overlay would still need town meeting's approval. On Aug. 13 the board voted to ask for a placeholder for the senior zoning overlay at fall town meeting, and on Sept. 24 it voted to ask the town administrator to withdraw that placeholder because the language was not finalized, its minutes say.

What the developer proposes

Thorndike Development presented the plan at a joint meeting of the Select Board and Planning Board on Oct. 14, 2025, seeking feedback from board members and residents on the community's appetite for senior housing at the site. A fiscal study the developer commissioned from DRG Advisory Services, dated Dec. 16, 2025, describes 418 condominium homes, 330 of them one and two bedroom units in nine three story buildings and 88 duplex homes, around a nine hole golf course with a driving range, a year round restaurant, a community center and an outdoor pool.

Thorndike's written answers to residents' questions, dated Nov. 6, 2025, put condominium prices from the low $400,000s to the mid $500,000s and duplex townhomes from the low $600,000s to the low $700,000s. The developer said it would sell about 75 homes a year, with full build out taking about seven years, and that the golf course would stay open to the public with preferred tee times for Lakeville residents. It said four story buildings were dropped after community feedback, and the current bylaw allows three stories or 35 feet.

The property covers 131.48 acres, with about 20 acres of wetlands and a 14.5 acre lake, and it is zoned for business, the developer wrote. In August the Planning Board received an updated master plan that puts the wastewater treatment under the driving range, which moved closer to the cranberry bogs and away from existing homes, while the number of units stayed the same.

Water and taxes

The homes and new buildings would use town water, while the golf course would keep irrigating from ponds on the property, according to the developer. It estimated use at about 75,000 gallons a day under state septic standards and closer to 45,000 gallons in practice, and said Lakeville has about 90,000 gallons a day of unused allocation from the Taunton Water Company. The plan calls for extending the water line about a half mile along Clear Pond Road from Route 79, with cost sharing and funding to be explored with the town.

Vice Chair David Lodge raised water allocation and public infrastructure at the board's July 30 meeting, and the minutes record that the site does not have adequate water infrastructure now, that the project would only work with a public water source and that Thorndike is willing to pay to bring one in.

The DRG study estimates the homes, restaurant and course would be assessed at $235.3 million and pay about $2.44 million a year in property tax at the current rate of $10.35, plus about $230,000 in excise and other payments. Against about $567,000 a year in added town costs, it puts the net gain to the general fund at about $2.1 million a year, with no school costs because the community would be age restricted. The figures come from the consultant the developer hired, not from the town.

A simple majority vote at town meeting

Town counsel Jay Talerman told the board on July 30 that changes to the state Zoning Act let some housing zoning pass town meeting by a simple majority instead of two thirds when the project is at an eligible location, which the Planning Board can determine. He said the definition is still somewhat unclear but likened it to a smart growth location, a walkable area of concentrated housing near transit or a village center. He said the board's finding would get deference but should come with its reasoning, and Chair Michele MacEachern said the board would not vote on the country club as an eligible location until after the public hearing on the zoning bylaw, so it can weigh public input.

The Select Board is handling peer review of the project, the Planning Board's Sept. 10 minutes say. The Select Board's Nov. 4 agenda listed a possible closed session to consider the purchase, exchange, lease or value of real estate, naming the Lakeville Country Club, and the agenda did not say what the board was weighing. South Coast 360 asked Town Administrator Andrew Sukeforth for the overlay draft and about the closed-session item, and he wrote back Wednesday: "We're off today but I can send you some documents and answer your questions first thing tomorrow."

Also on Thursday's agenda

At 6:30 p.m. the board holds hearings, with possible votes, on accessory dwelling units at 1 Simmons Way and 9 Harrison Ave. It reviews two Zoning Board of Appeals petitions, for 32 County St. and for Twisted Growers at 8 Harding St., and takes up its 2027 meeting schedule, its Oct. 8 minutes and updates on Bella Way, the stormwater management bylaw, a consultant for the Lakeville Hospital brownfields determination, Pinecrest Village, Stowe Estates and feedback on an Eco-One Stop grant expression of interest, with possible votes on any of them.

Separately, the board posted a brochure Nov. 5 on a proposed open space residential development bylaw, which would require at least 15 acres for such a subdivision, keep at least half of the land as permanent open space and require a special permit.

How to watch or reach the board

The meeting is open to the public, and LakeCAM records the board's meetings and streams them on Facebook Live. Residents can reach the Planning Board through Lakeville Town Hall, 346 Bedford St., 508-946-8800. The board's next meeting after Thursday is Dec. 10 at the police station.

Correction, Nov. 11: An earlier version of this story gave the address for one of the accessory dwelling unit hearings as 1 Simmonds Way, the spelling on the Planning Board's agenda. The address is 1 Simmons Way, the spelling in the state's MassGIS master address list and on the Select Board's Nov. 4 agenda.

Label: Reported by us, from the town's posted records.

Notes

Every fact comes from the Lakeville Planning Board's Nov. 12 agenda and its minutes of July 30, Aug. 13, Aug. 27, Sept. 10 and Sept. 24, the town's Lakeville Country Club project page and the developer's FAQ and fiscal study posted there, the Select Board's Nov. 4 agenda, the board's Nov. 5 brochure, the state's MassGIS master address list and Town Administrator Andrew Sukeforth's Nov. 11 email reply. We read them on Nov. 11. Prices, water use, tax and cost figures are the developer's and its consultant's, as their documents state them. We checked each date and weekday against a calendar. This story will be updated after Thursday's meeting.

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 (12)

  1. Lakeville Planning Board, meeting posting and revised agenda, Nov. 12, 2026, 6 p.m., Lakeville Police StationTown of Lakeville Agenda Center; Town Clerk time stamp Nov. 5, 2026, 10:26 a.m. Item 1, Lakeville Country Club Zoning Overlay Draft with town counsel, possible vote; items 2 to 8. Read Nov. 11, 2026.
  2. Lakeville Planning Board, minutes, July 30, 2026Town of Lakeville Agenda Center (Word file). Town Counsel Jay Talerman on the Lakeville Country Club as an eligible location; water infrastructure; the chair on timing of any vote. Read Nov. 11, 2026.
  3. Lakeville Planning Board, minutes, Aug. 13, 2026Town of Lakeville Agenda Center (Word file). Updated master plan, unit count unchanged; vote to ask for a fall town meeting placeholder. Read Nov. 11, 2026.
  4. Lakeville Planning Board, minutes, Aug. 27, 2026Town of Lakeville Agenda Center (Word file). Waiting for draft bylaw language. Read Nov. 11, 2026.
  5. Lakeville Planning Board, minutes, Sept. 10, 2026Town of Lakeville Agenda Center (Word file). Peer review handled by the Select Board. Read Nov. 11, 2026.
  6. Lakeville Planning Board, minutes, Sept. 24, 2026Town of Lakeville Agenda Center (Word file). Senior overlay not going to fall town meeting; vote to withdraw the placeholder; members present. Read Nov. 11, 2026.
  7. Town of Lakeville, Lakeville Country Club project pageTown of Lakeville, Select Board projects. Oct. 14, 2025 joint meeting and posted materials. Read Nov. 11, 2026.
  8. Thorndike Development, Lakeville Country Club Redevelopment, Frequently Asked Questions (Nov. 6, 2025)Posted on the town project page. Prices, water, build out, golf course, acreage, zoning and height answers. Read Nov. 11, 2026.
  9. DRG Advisory Services, Fiscal Impacts, Lakeville Country Club Redevelopment Plan (Dec. 16, 2025)Posted on the town project page; prepared for the developer. 418 homes, assessed value, revenue, costs and net figure. Read Nov. 11, 2026.
  10. Lakeville Select Board agenda, Nov. 4, 2026Town of Lakeville Agenda Center. Possible executive session under G.L. c. 30A s. 21(a)(6), Lakeville Country Club. Read Nov. 11, 2026.
  11. Lakeville Planning Board, Open Space Residential Development informational brochureTown of Lakeville News Flash, posted Nov. 5, 2026. 15 acre minimum, 50% open space, special permit. Read Nov. 11, 2026.
  12. MassGIS Master Address Points, LakevilleCommonwealth of Massachusetts, MassGIS. Address 1 SIMMONS WAY, Lakeville 02347, master address ID 4564526; no Simmonds Way in Lakeville. Read Nov. 11, 2026.

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