Planning Board Sends New England FC Soccer Complex Back for Traffic, Landscape Studies

MANSFIELD — May 27, 2026 — Mansfield Planning Board continues New England FC soccer complex hearing, citing traffic and landscaping gaps. The board voted unanimously at its May 27 meeting to continue the public hearing on New England FC's application for a special permit and site plan to build two full-sized and one half-sized synthetic turf fields at 283 Gilbert Street to June 24, after members said the applicants' supplemental traffic memo did not adequately examine existing conditions on the narrow scenic road or the impact on nearby intersections. Brian Mazar, president of the nonprofit, described a roughly $2.5 million project — not including land acquisition — with 253 parking spaces, field lights off by 9:30 p.m., and an offer to donate more than 63 acres of adjacent land to the Natural Resource Trust of Mansfield for public trail access. Abutter Mike Parsons, citing the applicants' own traffic figures, told the board the project would send "660 cars passing between those two houses five nights a week" along a stretch of road where bedroom windows face the access drive. The board also directed the applicants to submit a landscaping plan stamped by a registered landscape architect before the June 24 hearing, noting the zoning bylaw contains no waiver provision for that requirement.