Plymouth ZBA Unanimously Upholds Building Commissioner, Rejects Brown Bear Circle Tree Dispute

PLYMOUTH -- July 6, 2026, Plymouth ZBA upholds building commissioner, rejects Brown Bear Circle buffer enforcement appeal. The board voted unanimously Monday to sustain the building commissioner's refusal to act against the owners of 4 Brown Bear Circle, who cleared a mature vegetative buffer in approximately November 2025. Attorney Christopher J. Davidson of Berluti McLaughlin & Kutchen represented direct abutters including Kathleen Cadell, Glenn Nickerson, and the Fosters, requesting $70,080 in accumulated daily fines under Section 202-13 and replanting of mature trees at roughly $5,000 per tree. Opposing counsel Nick Shapiro of Phillips and Angley argued that none of the eight conditions in the 2003 adequate facilities special permit mandates a buffer, and that a town planner told the homeowners association in 2009 that the buffers were a private civil matter, not a zoning requirement. Planning staff confirmed that in their reading the buffer appeared in the permit's findings but not as an enforceable condition. The board also elected Mike Leary as its new chair, replacing longtime chair Michael Mayne, and unanimously approved a third-story addition for Michael and Carol Skorulski at 107C Taylor Avenue, conditioned on sprinkler installation and a height elevation certificate at framing.