Boxborough Planning Board Elects Mark White Chair in 3-2 Vote

BOXBOROUGH -- June 26, 2023, Boxborough Planning Board elects Mark White chair and grants Enclave at Boxborough a COVID-related permit extension. The board voted 3-2 Monday to elect White, a five-year member and former chair, over fellow member Rebecca Berner; Berner was then elected clerk unanimously. The board also voted 5-0 to extend Toll Brothers' special-permit completion deadline for the 50-unit Enclave development at 700-800 Massachusetts Avenue from September 2023 to September 30, 2024, after Town Planner Alec Gilmore noted that the state's 462-day COVID emergency tolling period does not automatically apply to local planning board permits, but that similar extensions had been offered by many communities. In a separate two-hour session, Campanelli Companies principal Russ Dion and attorney Johanna Schneider of Hemingway and Barnes previewed a conceptual master plan calling for five new one- and two-story R&D and light-manufacturing buildings totaling up to roughly 667,000 square feet on the company's 350-acre Route 2 park, about 200,000 square feet less than what prior permits authorized, with 241 acres, or 71 percent of the site, placed under conservation or open space restriction. Campanelli said it will file an expanded Environmental Notification Form with MEPA by August 1, triggering a public comment period of roughly 20 to 30 days, with a formal Planning Board application expected in the fall.