Planning Board OKs zoning fix for new state law

Planning Board · Meeting of September 17, 2026

Hubbardston Planning Board votes 3-0 to send a state-mandated zoning bylaw rewrite to the Select Board. Chair Kristofer Munroe, Alan Carpenter and Francois Steiger unanimously closed a public hearing and recommended amendments Town Planner Alec Wade drafted to conform local variance and non-conformity rules to changes in the governor's fiscal 2027 budget bill. The rewrite replaces "substantial hardship" with a new "practical difficulty" variance standard, extends non-conforming-use abandonment from two to four years, and requires the town to accept residential use-variance applications for the first time.

Resident Tom Robinson of 5 Brigham Street successfully proposed softening the edit to retain more original bylaw language. Wade warned that without the update, "the first variance that comes by will result in a lawsuit." Separately, the board tabled a decision on hiring a hydrogeologist for its $195,000-plus grant-funded aquifer overlay district work, with member Kristofer Munroe arguing "the burden should be on" development applicants, not the town, to prove aquifer compliance.

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Source: the Planning Board meeting of September 17, 2026, reported from the official video recording and transcript.