Boxborough Planning Board Backs New Town Planner Position at $77,000

BOXBOROUGH -- March 4, 2024, Boxborough Planning Board unanimously recommends $77,000 warrant article to hire a full-time associate town planner while escalating enforcement at a Route 111 property. Town Planner Alec Petranik told the board at its March 4 Zoom meeting that two job offers for the position had been rejected because the previous part-time, no-benefits structure was "not palatable" for qualified candidates; the new package adds $47,000 to an existing $30,000 budget line and includes a $20,000 benefits component, with the position structured at 32 hours per week. The board also heard from the Enclave at Boxborough Homeowners Association, which wants to build a roughly 1,260-square-foot ground-mounted solar array to offset $8,000 to $9,000 in annual wastewater pump costs, but Petranik said the town center zoning district prohibits such installations outright, leaving a two-thirds town meeting vote as the only path forward. On MBTA Communities, Petranik confirmed Boxborough must zone for 118 units of housing at 15 units per acre, roughly seven and a half acres, by December 2025. The meeting closed with the board directing staff to schedule an emergency executive session with Town Counsel after a third violation notice was issued at 984 Mass Ave for continued unauthorized tree clearing along the Route 111 scenic corridor despite an active cease-and-desist order.