Boxborough Planning Board Votes to Advance Three Zoning Bylaws to Town Meeting

BOXBOROUGH — March 2, 2026 — Boxborough Planning Board advances three zoning bylaw amendments and continues work on a new Gateway Business District along Massachusetts Avenue. At the March 2 remote meeting, the five-member board voted 5-0-0 three times — recommending revisions to the accessory dwelling unit size limit (Article 4.2.2), parking calculations (Article 6.1.6), and the Specialty Food Shop definition (Article 9.2, pending Building Commissioner review) — all for the 2026 Annual Town Meeting warrant. Clerk Rich Guzzardi presented a slide-deck vision for a proposed B2 Gateway Business District that would prohibit warehousing, large-scale manufacturing, and contractor yards by right along the 495 interchange corridor, replacing them with community-serving retail, food, medical, and professional uses; the board debated individual use-table entries for more than two hours without reaching a final recommendation. "This is not an expansion of commercial intensity — it's a recalibration," Guzzardi said. The public hearing was continued 5-0-0 to March 16 at 7:05 p.m., with a non-public landowner meeting set for March 11 at 2 p.m. A $15,000 Conservation Fund match for an Eco One Stop planning-assistance grant to fund an Open Space and Recreation Plan — application deadline March 20 — was also discussed, with the board deferring a letter-of-support vote pending a draft from staff.