Boxborough Planning Board Schedules Special Session on Major Route 495 Development Permit

BOXBOROUGH — October 6, 2025 — Boxborough Planning Board sets October 30 special session to resolve Beaverbrook Road development permit after marathon three-hour debate. The board voted unanimously to continue the public hearing for Campanile Trigate Sub LLC's application to amend open-space commercial development permits OSCD 97-01 and OSCD 01-01, which would allow up to 667,500 square feet of new commercial development at the former Cisco campus off Route 495. Newly retained Town Counsel Adam Costa, appearing for the first time on the application, advised the board that it could not legally require the applicant to waive property-tax abatement rights as a permit condition, and that mitigation conditions for abutters at Trail Ridge Way condominiums must be tied to specific demonstrated impacts rather than a generic future obligation. The board failed to reach consensus on the length of a commercial development period — applicant representative Russell Campanile offered either a 20-year term starting 120 days after permit approval or a 15-year term starting at first building permit, while member Cindy Markowitz pressed for a 10-year cap, which Campanile called "unanimously unacceptable" to the six-partner ownership group. The board also voted 5-0 to recommend Article 2 to Fall Town Meeting, allowing public safety buildings of up to 25,000 square feet in the town center district, and voted unanimously to add a multifamily housing definition to the MBTA Communities overlay district motion for Article 5.