North Andover Planning Board accepts Marble Ridge parking application withdrawal amid abutter dispute

NORTH ANDOVER -- July 7, 2026, North Andover Planning Board accepts Marble Ridge Winery parking withdrawal as abutters raise agricultural fraud claims. The board, which reorganized Tuesday night to re-elect Sean Kevlahan as chair and John Simons as vice chair, voted unanimously to accept the withdrawal without prejudice of an application by Marble Ridge Winery at 11 Marble Ridge Road to increase its approved parking from 35 to 60 spaces. Newly assigned applicant attorney William D'Adamo sought a continuance to allow negotiations, but the board, noting a 90-day decision clock running from the June 4 filing date, pushed instead for a clean withdrawal. Abutter attorney Nick Rosenberg, representing four neighboring households on Great Pond Road, argued that the winery's marketing materials advertise California-sourced grapes and that the Dover Amendment agricultural protections the owner has relied upon require ongoing, genuine farming activity: "This is an event venue. This is a wedding and a concert venue. This is an Airbnb space. This is not a vineyard." A separate zoning enforcement order on the property remains outstanding.