Boxborough Planning Board Consolidates Traffic Study Into Single Town Meeting Article

BOXBOROUGH -- January 29, 2024, Boxborough Planning Board and Select Board convene jointly to review master plan progress and debate traffic study funding. Town Planner Alec Werner reported that 60 percent of the Boxborough 2030 master plan's 125 action items are now complete or in progress, up from 59 percent in 2021, with completed items rising from 10 percent to 18 percent. Finance Committee staff recommended, and the board agreed, to consolidate a proposed traffic study warrant article into a single special town meeting appropriation funded through taxation, rather than splitting the ask across two town meetings; the study is estimated at up to $80,000, though Werner said informal quotes from additional consultants suggested a range of $55,000 to $60,000 may be achievable. Planning Board member Cindy Markowitz will work with Werner to draft final warrant language ahead of a February 12 board meeting and a February 13 Finance Committee presentation. On a separate enforcement matter, Tree Masters of 984 Massachusetts Avenue faces a February 1 deadline to submit an existing conditions plan or face resumed enforcement and fines; board members debated whether expansion of the landscaping company's non-conforming use could require a Zoning Board of Appeals special permit under bylaw sections 4.3.2 and 4.3.3 and MGL Chapter 40A Section 6.