Boxborough Planning Board Names Working Group Members for MBTA Communities Compliance

BOXBOROUGH -- July 8, 2024, Boxborough Planning Board seats two members on MBTA communities working group ahead of December 2025 deadline. The board voted unanimously Monday to appoint Rich Lizardi and Rebecca Turner as its two representatives on a new advisory working group, with Cindy serving as alternate, to guide the town's compliance with the state's MBTA Communities Law. Town Planner Alec outlined a three-phase strategy backed by $30,000 in existing grant funding and a pending $51,906 state one-stop growth grant application, award expected in October, that would engage MAPC for compliance testing, GIS analysis, and zoning drafting. Boxborough, classified as an adjacent small town due to its proximity to commuter rail stations in Acton and Littleton, must adopt zoning permitting 15 units per acre across roughly 10 net acres, enough to accommodate 118 units, before December 31, 2025, with annual town meeting as the primary target vote. Board members raised concerns about information being lost as findings moved from the working group back to the full board, and the town planner agreed to add a joint Planning Board-consultant kickoff session before detailed district analysis begins in September.