The developer for the Saybrook Drive development that had been previously approved by the Town of Rindge was approved to speed up the phasing timeline for the project, after a two-year delay.

During a Planning Board meeting Tuesday, Matt Olson stepped away from his role as a member of the Planning Board to sit in the audience as an applicant, to ask for an approval to exceed the town’s limits for how many homes in a development can be built in a year. Olson, the developer for a 15-unit development on Saybrook Drive, which was approved in 2023, has yet to build any homes due to delays in state approvals, he said.

Now that he is prepared to start building, he asked for an accelerated schedule, allowing 12 building permits in 2025 and three in 2026. Olson said seven of the initial 12 units built will be for his children.

The town’s regulations allow for the Planning Board to make allowances for the building schedule when there are unique or unforseen conditions. The majority of the board was prepared to give Olson some leeway on the schedule, but disagreed on the amount of leeway that should be offered.

Chair Roberta Oeser said that under the town’s regulations, a development the size of Saybrook would be allowed up to four units to be built per year. She pointed out that a zoning amendment proposed in March, which would have increased the number of units a development could build in a year, had been turned down by voters.

“That’s why I suggested eight, as a compromise,” Oeser said. She pointed out that someone who received approval in December for four units per year could start their construction in December, and another four in January.

“There is a scenario could get eight in two months, that’s why I suggested eight,” Oeser said.

Selectman ex-officio Bob Hamilton agreed with the point of voters having turned down an option to increase development speed, and said that there were multiple approved developments on the books, which could add up quickly when building begins.

“We do have a lot of other developments,” Hamilton said. “You don’t know what’s going to happen when applications come in.”

Other members said they were fine with the proposed 12. Max Geesey said the phasing ordinance was intended to ensure that local services, such as police, fire and schools, were not overloaded. He said he didn’t see that happening in that area.

The board voted 4-1-1 to approve the 12 units in 2025, and three in 2026, with Hamilton against and Kelen Geiger abstaining. Oeser said she would have preferred to see a compromise number, but ultimately agreed to the full 12 units in the first year.