Planning Board backs parking bylaw, delays mixed-use rule

Planning Board · Meeting of September 9, 2026

Natick Planning Board recommends parking-flexibility bylaw, tables companion mixed-use rule. Chair Doug Landry and members voted unanimously to recommend favorable action on an amendment letting downtown developers submit parking studies instead of meeting fixed minimums, needed at the Finance Committee by September 24 for fall Town Meeting. A second article requiring 50 percent non-residential ground-floor space in the Center Gateway and Downtown Mixed-Use districts, with up to 20 percent countable as residential amenities, was continued to September 23 after board members and developer Ben Stevens debated whether the math left "no room to do anything but a small lobby." The board also continued the four-lot Charles River Estates subdivision hearing, where abutters described chronic flooding — "it's like Waterworld back there" — and cited a reversed 15-year-old lot-shape precedent.

Separately, the board unanimously approved Riverbend School's limited site plan for 72 and 78 Pleasant Street, waiving a $2,000 review fee.

In the full story:

• Who Was There
• Organizations And Documents Referenced
• The complete report — 3,516 words

Source: the Planning Board meeting of September 9, 2026, reported from the official video recording and transcript.