Boxborough Planning Board votes 3-0 to narrow plastic bag bylaw before town meeting

BOXBOROUGH -- May 18, 2026, Boxborough Planning Board votes to narrow plastic bag bylaw the night before Annual Town Meeting. Meeting via Zoom on May 18, the three-member quorum, Chair Rebecca Verner, Clerk Rich Guzzardi, and member Mark White, voted 3-0 to amend Article 7, stripping out all polystyrene and number-six plastics provisions to leave only a Plastic Bag Reduction Bylaw covering thin-film single-use checkout bags at retail establishments. The board's central edit was the removal of all seven references to "food establishments" from the draft, with Guzzardi arguing that the existing "retail establishment" definition already covers food-serving businesses: "I think retail establishment covers it. There's no reason to add, to layer in more on this." Town Planner Alec Wade said 150 paper copies of the clean bylaw would be distributed at the town meeting floor the following night, with attendance projected at roughly 200 residents. Two public commenters expressed support; Joe Ferguson of 242 Old Harvard Road urged a future small business workshop if the polystyrene provisions are brought back.