Boxborough Planning Board nominates associate member, continues zoning hearing to March

BOXBOROUGH -- February 23, 2026, Boxborough Planning Board unanimously nominates Nathaniel Stuntz as associate member and advances seven zoning bylaw amendments toward May town meeting. The board voted 5-0 on all formal actions during a nearly three-and-a-half-hour remote session February 23, including setting a three-year associate member term and formally nominating Stuntz, a current full member of the Zoning Board of Appeals, over fellow candidate Mark Barbadoro following a 3-2 straw poll; the nomination goes to the Select Board for joint appointment. A public hearing opened on amendments that include rezoning Industrial Commercial parcels along Massachusetts Avenue into a new gateway Business 2 district, raising the by-right accessory dwelling unit maximum from 900 to 1,000 square feet, and halving minimum parking requirements for office uses from one space per 250 square feet to one space per 500. Member Cindy Markowitz pushed back on the gateway proposal, saying she needed "a pictorial of what your vision is supposed to be" before agreeing to wholesale use-table changes, while Clerk Rich Guzzardi said his goal was to prevent the corridor from "looking like the industrial buildings on Codman Hill Road." The hearing was continued to March 2, with final article language due to the Select Board by March 13 ahead of the May Annual Town Meeting.