Ayer Planning Board reorganizes, continues three land-use hearings to June 9

AYER — May 26, 2026 — Ayer Planning Board reorganizes under returning chair and advances three pending site plan hearings. The board unanimously reelected Jonathan Clance as chair and Kenneth Diskin as vice chair at its May 26 meeting, the first since two new members, Peter Cush and Dave, joined the five-seat board; election of a clerk was deferred to June 9 at the request of member Julie, who cited unresolved concerns about the volume of external working-group demands placed on the board. The board unanimously released construction covenants on Lots 7, 8, and 9 of the Panther Place subdivision, acting on a DPW Director recommendation that estimated roughly $84,500 in remaining subdivision work — down from $116,000 as of December 2025. Three continued hearings were all advanced to June 9: the Ayer Family Pharmacy parking lot at 7, 13, and 15 Park Street, where a draft decision will be prepared; a nine-unit multifamily building at 20 Groton Harvard Road, which drew abutter concerns about tree removal and stormwater, prompting a site walk scheduled for June 1; and the town's proposed 13,000-square-foot senior center off Bishop Road, where a shared staff concern about traffic data at the Bishop Road and Park Street intersection remains the principal unresolved obstacle to a decision.