Townsend Board of Health Approves Septic Variances for Three Main Street Properties

TOWNSEND -- June 22, 2026, Townsend Board of Health unanimously approved septic variances for three adjacent Main Street properties, allowing leach areas to be installed on an abutting parcel rather than on the lots they serve. Engineer Christopher McKenzie of Dillis and Roy presented plans for 71, 75, and 80 Main Street, all currently served by aging mound systems visible from the road, with new leach areas to be sited on a back parcel owned by Gary Shepherd, who agreed to grant perpetual easements to all three properties. Each approval included a local upgrade approval reducing the required groundwater separation from five feet to four, a Townsend Board of Health regulation variance for off-lot siting, and a Title V variance under 310 CMR 15.410; the church at 80 Main Street received one additional variance for tank components unavoidably located within a floodplain. MassDOT approval to run a force main across Route 119 for the church project had been secured approximately a year prior. The board also voted to correct the effective date of its polystyrene use restriction regulation to September 1, 2026, pending town counsel review, and approved a new-construction septic for a five-bedroom house on Lot 3, Greenville Road.