Boxborough Planning Board continues Campanelli OSCD hearing, sets October 6 decision session

BOXBOROUGH -- September 15, 2025, Boxborough Planning Board advances Campanelli business park special permit toward an October decision. The board voted 5-0 Monday to continue the public hearing on Campanelli Tri-Gate Sub LLC's application to amend two prior open space commercial development special permits at the Beaverbrook Road corporate park, scheduling a session with special land use counsel Adam Costa for October 6. The park currently produces $1,058,064 annually in commercial property taxes; the Economic Development Committee's letter, read by EDC Chair Abby Reap, projected an additional $750,000 to $1.3 million per year at build-out. Select Board member Kristen Hilberg urged approval given what she called "significantly trying financial times" tied to a looming operational override, debt service override, and new fire station costs. Campanelli partner Russell DeYoung confirmed the company has no tenant signed and has deferred speculative construction pending permit finalization. The board also continued a separate public hearing on an eight-unit contractor storage facility at 975 Massachusetts Ave to October 6, and opened and immediately continued a public hearing on a Footnote 5 zoning bylaw amendment, designed to allow greater flexibility for public safety uses in the town center district, to the same date, positioning it first on the agenda to allow public input.