Planning board debates whether to split Industrial Park warrant article as data-center language draws scrutiny
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Summary
The board discussed whether to split Industrial Park zoning changes into one article for expanded uses and a separate article for data-center special-permit language. Members warned splitting might leave an undefined "data center" use if voters approve the first article and not the second; the board set a March 30 hearing to finish notices.
Southborough planners debated a proposed overhaul of the Industrial Park (IP) district on Monday, focusing on whether to place data-center rules in the same warrant article as broader IP use updates.
Planner Karina told the board that town counsel had provided a red-lined version that split the warrant into two: one article to expand IP district uses and a second article that would add a special-permit definition and dimensional standards for data centers. Counsel flagged a notice/advertising issue: changes to the special-permit section require additional legal ad language, which the board must publish before the warrant.
Board members were split on strategy. Several members, and planning consultant Tim Litt in public comment, urged keeping the package together so the guardrails for new IP uses and the definition for data centers pass as a single unit, reducing the risk that one half passes while the other fails and creates an undefined use in the code. "If you split it, and the first passes and the second fails, you'll be left with an open use without guidelines," one member warned.
Others favored separating the articles or making the data-center language severable and clear so voters could consider the use definition independently. The board agreed to advertise the special-permit piece and scheduled a March 30 Zoom session focused on the section 174-9 special-permit language so both the public and the board would have time to review it ahead of town meeting.
What happens next: The board will publish the additional legal advertisement required for the special-permit section and hold a March 30 hearing (Zoom) limited to the special-permit language; the draft motion will be finalized for inclusion in the town meeting warrant.