Hubbardston Planning Board Clears All Four Zoning Bylaws Through Attorney General

HUBBARDSTON -- January 7, 2026, Hubbardston's Planning Board confirmed all four of its zoning bylaws have cleared the state attorney general, including a contested battery energy storage bylaw, as the board aligned on priorities for the upcoming annual town meeting. Chair Kristofer Munroe led the three-member quorum, also including Alan Carpenter and Francois Steiger, through a project status review showing two of 13 planned initiatives complete, four underway, and one delayed. Town planner Alec reported that a commercial district boundary analysis, the board's second-highest-ranked project, was stalled after the Montachusett Regional Planning Commission said it lacked time to complete GIS work under an existing Planning Local Technical Assistance grant amendment; the board plans to reapply in the current grant cycle. The attorney general made only minor technical edits to the accessory dwelling unit bylaw and told the planner that special permit requirements for higher-tier battery storage installations in the agricultural residential district would be permissible, though any such change would require a new public hearing and town meeting article. The board's working town meeting slate includes sand pit zoning tools, an overlay district proposal, and a possible agricultural accessory bylaw.