Wenham Planning Board Continues Pizza Restaurant Hearing, Caps Peer Review at $1,000

WENHAM — November 13, 2025 — Wenham Planning Board votes to cap peer review costs at $1,000 for a proposed pizza restaurant at 143 Topsfield Road. The board, chaired by Ann Weeks and meeting November 13, continued the public hearing on a site plan and special permit for a 14-seat takeout-oriented Mike's Pizzeria and Grill — proposed by Wenham Corner Realty for the corner of Topsfield Road and Maple Street — to December 11 after stormwater and traffic reports arrived too late for staff review. Member Dan Pasquarello moved to limit the peer review to drainage calculations only and cap expenses at $1,000, well below the $2,750 estimate from town reviewer DGT Associates, telling the board "we should not just so easily toss a $3,000 expense on a special permit application that might not require it." Abutter Elizabeth Isaac, a Topsfield Road resident since 2008, told the board that afternoon traffic backups already reach her home by 3:30 p.m. and asked the board to require police input on circulation before finalizing any approval. The board also received an informal briefing from bankruptcy attorney Christopher Condon of Bowditch and Dewey and broker Andrew Sherman of Kelleher and Sadowski, who are marketing the former Academy at Penguin Hall campus through a court-supervised sale, with no specific development proposal yet on file.