Kingston ZBA Moves to Deny 168-Unit 40B Project, Cites Unbuildable Flood Zone

KINGSTON — April 7, 2026 — Kingston's Zoning Board of Appeals moved toward denying a 168-unit 40B affordable housing application Tuesday, citing the project's location within a FEMA flood zone where construction is currently prohibited. The board, which has deliberated the application for roughly four years, reached working consensus that the project as designed cannot proceed because the applicant has not obtained a required flood map amendment despite being invited to do so by the Kingston Conservation Commission in 2023. Town Engineer Matt Piniella and Conservation Commission Administrator Valerie both communicated after the last hearing that a map amendment is "likely" obtainable but has not been filed. The board's attorney will draft a denial incorporating the floodplain issue as the lead ground, alongside concerns about traffic, density, building height, setbacks, access to Copper Beach Road, and snow removal capacity on a site where roughly eight of ten acres are wetland or floodplain. The board faces a hard April 27 decision deadline — after which the permit would be constructively granted — and will reconvene April 16 at 6 p.m. to review the draft; only one member, who argued the floodplain risk belongs to the developer, favored moving toward approval.