Boxborough Planning Board Advances Fire Station Zoning and MBTA Housing Articles Toward October Vote

BOXBOROUGH — August 11, 2025 — Boxborough Planning Board advances twin zoning articles toward October town meeting with a September 4 language deadline. The board spent more than three hours Monday debating a proposed use-table amendment that would allow public safety facilities owned by the Town of Boxborough as-of-right in most zoning districts — an effort to unblock a new fire station project that failed its two-thirds vote at a prior town meeting — and a first-draft MBTA Communities multifamily housing overlay district centered on the Hill Road corridor near South Acton station. Member Rich Guzzardi, who drafted the public safety amendment, argued for including all districts to give town meeting "maximum flexibility," while member Cindy Markowitz advocated a targeted overlay covering 44 specific parcels and excluding 72 Stowe Road, the site that failed previously. Select Board Chair Kristen Hilberg told the board the warrant goes to print September 12, making September 4 the firm deadline for final language. On the MBTA side, the board tentatively agreed to ask its consultant to model the overlay district without two undeveloped parcels — 1172 Hill Road and 1178 Middle Road, totaling roughly 7.5 acres — to test whether the required 118-unit minimum capacity can still be met on the remaining 10 acres of developed land. The board voted unanimously to continue both hearings to August 18, and approved a separate stonewall bylaw amendment raising the maximum temporary wall opening from 10 to 15 feet, 5-0.