Hubbardston Planning Board Orders Aquifer Briefing, Neighbor Outreach on Overlay District

HUBBARDSTON -- March 4, 2026, Hubbardston Planning Board agrees to abutter outreach and aquifer briefing for sand pit overlay district. The three-member board, Chair Kristofer Munroe, Alan Carpenter, and Francois Steiger, spent most of its March 4 meeting working through two policy concerns raised by Associate Member Mark Kresge: whether the proposed RT2GO overlay district would effectively supersede the town's aquifer favorability protection district by permitting multifamily housing and hotel uses that district prohibits, and whether abutting landowners had been adequately consulted on boundaries. The board directed Town Planner Alec and staff member Leanne to prepare a direct mailing to an estimated 15 to 25 neighboring parcels, with a focus group format preferred over a formal hearing. Consultant Bill Murray, who helped establish the aquifer favorability district in 2017, will be invited to the board's next meeting; the town's revolving fund account holds roughly $3,600 to cover his time. Board member Carpenter also flagged a density concern, questioning whether four single-family detached units per acre under the planned unit development option is appropriate, and the planner offered to model multiple density scenarios in SketchUp before the next substantive discussion.