ATM Article 17: Updating Industrial Park zoning

The Southborough Planning Board has been working for over a year on comprehensive zoning updates for the town's Industrial Park (IP) Zone, which will be presented as Annual Town Meeting Article 17 for a vote on April 11th. The proposed changes require a two-thirds approval from Town Meeting voters and aim to modernize and expand allowable uses while introducing new restrictions to protect residents and conservation areas from negative impacts. The board is actively educating voters on these extensive and potentially complicated changes. The initiative to update the IP zone's attractiveness dates back to fall 2024, though it was temporarily tabled for other urgent zoning matters, including for a potential Costco on the old EMC property within the IP zone. The changes will amend sections under the current bylaws for the IP zoning, eliminating outdated uses and adding new ones, such as certain retail, manufacturing, and R&D facilities. Notably, Data Centers are included as a new use requiring a special permit from the Planning Board, with a maximum size of 50,000 sq. ft. and a 1,000 sq. ft. buffer from residential or conservation properties. Planning member Marnie Hoolahan explained that the board proactively drafted bylaws with special restrictions for data centers, capping projects and implementing larger buffers, due to concerns about noise and vibration complaints from such facilities in other areas. Planning Chair Meme Luttrell justified the Planning Board's authority over data center permits, citing their 'very site intensive' nature and aligning it with the board's role in Site Plan Review. The changes also include restrictions on