Gardner Planning Board Recommends Sign Code Restructuring, Continues Walmart Fuel Station Review

GARDNER — April 14, 2026 — Gardner Planning Board continues Walmart fuel station review toward May decision. The three-member board — Chair Eric Flint, Paul Cormier, and Steve Cormier, with Robert Swartz absent — voted 3-0 on every item at its April 14 meeting, which adjourned in 13 minutes. City Engineer Rob Oliva confirmed that Boehler Group engineer Connor Ennis had resolved all outstanding engineering comments on the proposed fueling station at the Walmart Supercenter at 677 Timpany Boulevard, covering snow storage depiction, an expanded lighting calculation to the Timpany Boulevard right-of-way, and drainage O&M plan additions including an emergency shutoff valve and a BMP component map. The board continued that hearing and a separate site plan modification for 0 Emerald Street — still awaiting Zoning Board of Appeals action on deck variances — both to May 12. The board also voted 3-0 to recommend favorably to the City Council Ordinance 1172, which would remove Signs and Advertising Devices from Gardner's Zoning Code Chapter 675 and relocate it to a new non-zoning Chapter 665. Director of City Planning and Development Jason Stevens announced that a draft Master Plan covering a 20-year development outlook is open for public comment through April 23, with a public open house held April 15 at the Heywood Memorial Library.