Gold Dog condo public hearing extended again in Sharon

SHARON — Planning and Zoning granted a second continuation of the public hearing for a town center housing development on Hospital Hill Road as the Commission awaits a third-party engineering review.

The plans, which are available for public viewing at the Land Use Office during regular hours or by appointment, detail 12 duplex buildings for 24 total condo units arranged around a 24-foot-wide driveway.

At the prior public hearing session, project engineer George Johannesen of Allied Engineering requested a continuation as sewer and hydrology reports were incomplete at the time.

Johannesen returned to the Town Hall meeting room floor at P&Z’s May 14 meeting with those reports, alongside a 53-item presentation responding to a review presented at the March 10 opening of the public hearing by Artel Engineering’s Dainius Virbickas. That report was commissioned by 71 Hospital Hill Road residents Pablo Cisilino and Silvina Leone, who oppose the project.

Johannesen outlined numerous adjustments and additions to the plans due to criticisms and suggestions detailed by Artel, including an overhaul of its Stormwater Management Report, added erosion control measures and infrastructure adjustments, such as the addition of a guardrail on the downhill side of a cul-de-sac. The new plans also implement sidewalks at the request of P&Z during an earlier iteration of the public hearing.

Eleven of the buildings are approximately 1,800 square feet and are arrayed opposite each other on either side of the driveway. A smaller building of approximately 1,350 square feet is positioned at the end of the cul-de-sac, which is now planned to be supported by a riprap slope per the Artel report’s suggestions.

The plot spans an eight acre stretch of sparse forest and wetlands between Hospital Hill Road and Amenia Road, of which three and a half acres of disturbance are planned. If approved, construction would likely begin in the fall and last approximately two years.

Cisilino, as in the previous hearing sessions, expressed frustration at what he described as unpreparedness on the part of the applicant, Gold Dog LLC. “This pattern of behavior itself warrants denial of the application,” he said during the public comment portion of the hearing.

Speaking outside Town Hall after the meeting, Cisilino found it telling that the Artel report had initiated so many alterations to Gold Dog LLC’s proposal.

The project has been embroiled in controversy since Gold Dog submitted the proposal in January 2025 after withdrawing a previous application in 2023. Many Sharon residents have decried the development as incongruous to the neighborhood and insensitive to neighbors’ concerns.

For its part, the applicant’s attorney Joseph Szerejko said that despite the public outcry, no one approached Gold Dog representatives directly in the early months of the application process. “The applicant and Mr. Johannesen would have been very receptive to comments but didn’t receive any,” he said.

A minority of residents have also spoken out in favor of a diversified housing landscape in Sharon. James Gillespie, who used to live in Sharon, argued that the proposed development “fits a niche.” He wants to move back to the town, and “this fits my category,” he said.

The hearing will continue June 11 at 5 p.m., two days before its 65-day extension is set to expire.