Shutesbury Planning Board re-elects chair, creates vice chair position in fiscal-year reorganization

SHUTESBURY — July 13, 2026 — Shutesbury Planning Board reorganizes, endorses a Wendell Road lot split, and recommends two new associate members. At its July 13 hybrid meeting, the board unanimously re-elected Nathan Bressler as chair for a fourth consecutive year and created a vice chair position for the first time, electing Michael DeChiara — who said he has long filled the role informally — by a unanimous vote. The board endorsed an approval-not-required plan dividing land at 314 and 382 Wendell Road into two new lots for two applicants, the Shutesbury Athletic Club and the Plaza family, with a $140 filing fee collected. Carl Louder, a property manager with two decades in construction, and Dean Gendren, an Amherst College administrator with a land use planning degree from Vermont Law School, were unanimously recommended to the Select Board for the two open associate member seats. Tom Seifert was named the board's representative to both the Community Preservation Committee and the prospective Lake Wyola Advisory Committee, and a site visit to the Wheelock solar facility is set for August 13.