Westborough planning board advances plan to simplify downtown zoning, debates design‑review reach

Jenny Gingras, Westborough’s town planner, told the Planning Board on May 6 that the downtown plan recommends creating a single base downtown district, expanding its boundaries modestly toward Church and Phillips streets, and eliminating an adjacent industrial zone to encourage smaller mixed uses. Gingras said the change is intended to make the code easier to read and to promote redevelopment: "The recommendation from the downtown plan was to create that one base zone and eliminate this industrial zone here," she said, and stressed that ‘‘this isn’t kicking anyone out’’ because existing businesses retain two‑year nonconforming protections.

Board members said they support simplifying overlapping overlays but pressed Gingras on the consequences of removing industrial zoning. One member warned that if industrial parcels go vacant for more than two years they would lose protected status and could be redeveloped for different uses, and raised traffic concerns: "If you have 30 small industrial users that add up to that square footage, you're still gonna have the truck traffic," a member said. Gingras responded that the draft use table is intended to permit small‑scale production ("artisanal production," maker workshops, shared kitchens) while excluding heavier industrial uses that would generate frequent truck movements.

Gingras also outlined changes to the town’s use and dimensional tables: she proposed consolidating numerous footnoted and overlapping schedules into a single, simpler table and adding specific categories so prospective businesses can see whether a use is allowed. The board discussed reducing downtown minimum lot sizes (members discussed 10,000 to 5,000 square feet) and using a floor‑area‑ratio (FAR) to regulate residential bulk instead of strict lot‑size minima. "You could put a... 4,000 square foot house on that lot," Gingras said while explaining how FAR would adapt building size to lot area.

Members debated the role and reach of the Design Review Board. Gingras proposed shifting jurisdiction from a 2,500‑foot radius from the rotary to defined downtown and gateway districts so the review body focuses where design standards matter most. Discussion centered on whether the Planning Board should require design standards before changing zoning or adopt zoning that refers to standards to be developed later; some members cautioned against creating standards without publishing the details. The board also discussed whether Route 9 projects should be included in design review oversight.

Gingras told the board the town has an earmarked consultant contract to draft a new signs bylaw and update design guidelines; members asked whether the consultant’s work duplicates existing guidance and whether the signs bylaw should be ready for the fall town meeting. Gingras said the contract is in progress and staff will decide whether to place articles on the fall warrant once the draft language and public feedback are complete.

The planner emphasized public outreach: postcards, a project webpage with maps and comment forms, farmers‑market tabling and a June 11 public meeting to solicit feedback on the preferred concept and technical work (traffic counts and sewer planning). Gingras said subsequent funding applications (MassWorks and other state programs) would be required to move from preliminary design to construction.

Next steps the board identified included refining parcel boundaries, clarifying definitions (especially for production/retail hybrids), confirming whether accessory dwelling units and other accessory uses should be explicitly shown in the table, and targeted outreach to existing downtown businesses that could be affected by the revisions. The board directed staff to continue drafting and to bring refined language and the use table back for further review prior to deciding whether to place zoning articles on the fall 2025 town meeting warrant.

The board has not adopted any zoning changes; the discussion focused on direction, mapping edits and drafting clarity. The Planning Board expects additional drafts and public outreach before any formal warrant articles are filed.