Boxborough Planning Board Recommends Municipal Use Zoning Fix 3-2, Sends to Town Meeting

BOXBOROUGH — March 31, 2025 — Boxborough Planning Board splits 3-2 to recommend a Select Board zoning fix, closing a charged public hearing with more than 60 residents on the call. The board voted to recommend Article amending Sections 4.1.3C and 9.2 of the zoning bylaw to restore "municipal governmental use" as an allowed designation across all zoning districts, a change the Select Board says corrects a clerical omission from a 1991 recodification discovered during the fire station siting process. Members Richard Bizardi and Kathy Vorst joined Chair Mark White in the affirmative; members Cindy Markowitz and Rebecca Berner voted no. Markowitz argued the language is too broad, that a 30-year-old bylaw text does not constitute a scrivener's error, and urged the board to draft its own article for fall town meeting instead. Bizardi noted a survey of roughly 18 to 20 surrounding communities found that neighboring towns including Concord, Bolton, and Stowe all allow municipal uses in every district, several by right. The board also voted unanimously to recommend an alternate Article 48 adopting the Massachusetts model floodplain bylaw in its entirety to meet a July 8, 2025 FEMA compliance deadline. Both warrants go to print April 1; a full written report on the municipal use article is due within 21 days.