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Planning board adopts updated fee schedule, raises peer‑review escrow to $8,000
Summary
Planning staff presented a revised fee schedule after benchmarking peer towns and finding fees unchanged since 2019; the board adopted the schedule, which increases the typical peer‑review escrow to $8,000 and consolidates certain site plan and special‑permit fees.
The Town of Westborough Planning Board voted to adopt a revised fee schedule that increases certain escrows and reorganizes application charges.
Planning staff told the board they compared fees in surrounding communities and noted the town had not updated fees since 2019. Staff recommended increasing the standard peer‑review escrow from $2,000 to $8,000 in most cases after soliciting quotes from three engineering firms; sometimes portions of escrow are returned, depending on actual costs. The revised schedule also consolidates fees where a special permit typically includes site plan review, so applicants will no longer be charged two separate full fees in those cases.
Board members asked whether the board should charge a re‑application or withdrawal fee in some cases (for example multi‑year projects that are withdrawn and then refiled). Staff recommended leaving fee waivers to the planning board’s discretion and suggested applicants seeking waivers request them at the planning board. A motion to accept the fee schedule as presented was moved, seconded and approved by the board.
Staff explained technical review fees remain separate from administrative fees; administrative fees are revenue to the town’s general fund. The board did not set a blanket re‑application charge but affirmed discretion to consider waivers or fees on a case‑by‑case basis.
