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Bill would let Worcester require institutional master plans
Summary
A bill filed Sept. 16, 2025 in the Massachusetts Senate would authorize the city of Worcester to adopt zoning ordinances requiring Institutional Master Plans for large hospitals, colleges and similar institutions, including a 10-year special-permit renewal cycle and a 120-day application requirement for existing institutions.
A bill filed Sept. 16, 2025 in the Massachusetts Senate would give the city of Worcester the authority to require Institutional Master Plans for large institutional facilities, according to the filed text of Senate No. 2617.
The measure, submitted by Sen. Michael O. Moore of the Second Worcester district, defines an Institutional Master Plan as a land-use and development plan for land owned or used by institutions that "identifies existing and future growth and development of the institution," and says the plan would enable the community to address development impacts through public review and adoption.
The bill specifies that Worcester may adopt local general or zoning ordinances to "promote and facilitate the development of large-scale institutional facilities" and may impose Institutional Master Plan review "to regulate the use of land or structures for land owned, leased, or otherwise occupied by institutions such as hospitals, health care institutions, colleges, universities, and non-profit educational corporations." It also states the local ordinances may override contrary provisions of G. L. c. VA, § 3.
The filed text includes two specific procedural provisions for local ordinances: it allows the city to require that special permits issued for such institutional uses expire and be renewed after 10 years, and it allows the city to require that any institution in existence when a local ordinance is adopted must apply for a special permit within 120 days of that adoption.
Section 3 of the bill states that "this act shall take effect upon passage," but the document on file is the bill text as presented to the Senate; it does not include committee referrals, votes, or any subsequent legislative actions or local ordinances implementing the authority described in the bill.
Sen. Michael O. Moore is listed as the filing legislator; the document is captioned as "Senate No. 2617" and shows the Senate docket filing date of Sept. 16, 2025. The text does not include statements from municipal officials, institutional representatives, or public commentators and contains no legislative vote or committee action in the available filing.
If enacted, the bill would give Worcester a statutory basis to adopt local zoning requirements specific to large institutional landowners and to set renewal and application timelines as part of those requirements. The bill text does not specify how a local ordinance would define "large-scale" or how local review procedures would be structured; those details would be determined by Worcester if and when it adopts implementing ordinances and by subsequent legislative or administrative actions outside the filed text.
The filing does not specify funding, enforcement mechanisms beyond the special-permit language, or a timeline for the bill's consideration by the Legislature.
