Bristol-Plymouth appeals Hart and Poole Street traffic light condition to the Taunton ZBA Nov. 19
The school's lawyer told the Planning Board the light was not in the new building's budget, and members who kept the condition said the intersection needs a light for safety, with the chairman saying a light would cost $1.5 million, the board's minutes say.
TAUNTON Bristol-Plymouth Regional Technical School is asking Taunton's Zoning Board of Appeals to overturn a Planning Board decision that keeps a traffic signal condition on its new school at 207 Hart St., setting up a Thursday, Nov. 19 hearing on an intersection that Planning Board members said needs a light for safety.
The appeal is on the board's agenda for its 6 p.m. meeting in the Chester R. Martin Municipal Council Chambers on the second floor of City Hall, 15 Summer St. The agenda describes it as an appeal of the Planning Board's site plan review decision denying a change that would remove condition 14, which reads: "If warrants are met, install a traffic control signal at the Hart Street/Poole Street/school driveway intersection. If warrants are not met, seek installation of an overhead flashing beacon, red facing Poole Street and the school driveway and yellow facing Hart Street." Attorney Jason Talerman is listed for the school.
What the Planning Board heard
Talerman, of Newburyport, told the Planning Board on Oct. 1 that the school's first traffic study, by Tighe and Bond, found the warrants for a signal were not met, according to the board's minutes. A later safety analysis by the Southeastern Regional Planning and Economic Development District found the eight hour warrant was met under one condition and expected others might be met as enrollment grows, the minutes say, and the school's engineer disagreed with it because the April 2025 traffic count included construction workers and deliveries.
Talerman said the school would have to pay for the light, which made it prohibitively expensive and inconsistent with the scope in the project's funding agreement with the Massachusetts School Building Authority, supported by a districtwide vote of the member communities, according to the minutes. He said the light was not in the budget because the school did not expect to have to install one, that the school qualifies as an educational institution protected under the Dover Amendment of state zoning law, and that he had spoken with the city solicitor. He also said SRPEDD had recommended a roundabout and that it did not seem fair for one user to bear the whole cost, and that the school would appeal and fight it out in court if it came to that, the minutes say.
Vice Chairman Dennis Ackerman said he was aware of the Dover Amendment and thought the argument was a stretch, that a light was warranted and that he could not support waiving the condition for safety reasons, according to the minutes. He suggested the school wait a year and come back with accident data, noting the building had opened about a month earlier, and Talerman said the school had a temporary certificate of occupancy and that he could ask whether it would wait and gather data.
Chairman Anthony Abreau said a light would cost $1.5 million and that someone had dropped the ball in budgeting the project, and said he favored a light for the children's safety, the minutes say. Member George Moniz called it a bad intersection where a flashing light would not stop anyone, and noted the school came in under budget and could use that money. Member Brian Carr said a light and safe sight lines were needed and urged Talerman to visit during busy hours, and Talerman said he had not been to the site since the school was rebuilt. John Reardon, the board's clerk, said he had been assigned that sector when he was a police officer, and another member said three schools draw traffic from Williams and Poole streets and that a left turn from Poole onto Hart was dangerous, according to the minutes.
One resident spoke, saying he went to Bristol-Plymouth, that traffic there is bad and that the intersection definitely needs a light, the minutes say. Department comments from the coordination meeting, the Department of Public Works, the conservation agent, the water and fire departments and the Americans with Disabilities Act Commission were read into the record during the item. After public input closed, the board voted 7-0 against a motion to approve the change as presented, and the modification was denied.
Also on the agenda
The Zoning Board of Appeals is also scheduled to meet in executive session to discuss pending litigation, hear a request for a special permit to allow a single family home at 561 County St. in the Highway Business District, accept its Sept. 24 minutes and set its 2027 meeting schedule.
How to take part
The meeting can be watched through the city website's municipal network page or at cloud.castus.tv/vod/#/taunton, or attended in person, the agenda says. Abutters may speak in person or send written comments, which must reach the Zoning Board of Appeals by noon Nov. 19. The board's office is at 141 Oak St., and Head Administrative Clerk Denise J. Paiva can be reached at dpaiva@taunton-ma.gov or 508-821-1051.
Label: Reported by us, from the town's posted records.
Notes
Every fact comes from the Taunton Zoning Board of Appeals' Nov. 19, 2026 agenda, stamped by the city clerk's office Nov. 12 and read on its page image, and the Planning Board's posted minutes of its Oct. 1, 2026 meeting. The minutes refer to members by first name; we matched each to the member list on the minutes' first page, where only one member has each first name. We read both on Nov. 13, 2026, and checked each date and weekday against a calendar.
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 (2)
- Taunton Zoning Board of Appeals, agenda, Thursday, Nov. 19, 2026City of Taunton, clerk stamp 2:34 p.m. Nov. 12, 2026. Case 3857 Bristol-Plymouth Regional School, 207 Hart St., condition 14 text, Case 3856, executive session, viewing and comment instructions. Read on the page image Nov. 13, 2026.
- Taunton Planning Board, minutes of Oct. 1, 2026City of Taunton. Site plan review modification, 207 Hart St., testimony, public input, 7-0 vote, modification denied. Read Nov. 13, 2026.