Boxborough Planning Board Votes to Narrow Plastics Bylaw to Bag Ban Only

BOXBOROUGH -- May 11, 2026, Boxborough Planning Board unanimously stripped its proposed plastics bylaw to a single-use bag ban only, one week before Annual Town Meeting. The board voted 5-0 at its May 11 remote meeting to strike Sections 3.1.B through the end of Section 3, covering food-service trays, disposable utensils, and packing materials, after nine residents spoke, most citing harm to small businesses, particularly specialty chocolate manufacturer Two Friends Chocolates. Maria Neyland of 201 Picnic Street told the board the business had participated in a staff-requested compliance test "only to be told that the building inspector is uncomfortable giving exemptions." Clerk Rich Guzzardi, who had visited the business, said FDA-regulated supply-chain packaging left owners little room to substitute materials quickly. The board voted a second 5-0 motion committing to bring a polystyrene-restriction article to Fall Town Meeting 2026. In a separate 3-2 vote, with Chair Rebecca Verner and Cindy Markowitz dissenting, the board passed over Article 9, which would have expanded Design Review Board oversight to Route 111 Business districts, after Guzzardi reported the Finance Committee was "diametrically opposed" and the DRB's existing design guidelines were written exclusively for Town Center.