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Planning board approves minor modification to Beaverbrook special permit to exclude small Harvard slivers
Summary
The Boxborough Planning Board voted 3–0 to limit two special‑permit conditions so conservation restrictions will apply only to three named CR areas in Boxborough, excluding small land slivers located in neighboring Harvard; staff said updated surveys add roughly three acres elsewhere, producing a net gain.
The Boxborough Planning Board voted unanimously July 6 to adopt a minor modification to the Beaverbrook open‑space commercial development special permit, narrowing conditions 4 and 6 so the conservation declaration and final conservation restriction apply only to CR Area 1, CR Area 2 and CR Area 3 as shown on the revised site plans.
Planner Alec told the board the change responds to an implementation problem: parts of the land the permit originally called out lie in the town of Harvard, and the Boxborough Conservation Commission cannot hold a conservation restriction on land outside town boundaries. Alec said attorney Costa has authorized recording of a declaration of restriction and that the registry of deeds filing should follow in a day or two.
Alec said updated survey work actually increased one area by about three acres compared with early estimates, meaning the town gains more conserved land than it loses by excluding the Harvard slivers. "We are actually getting more land than we're losing here, which is always a big win," Alec said.
Mark White moved the modification and a board member seconded; Chair Guzzardi took a roll‑call vote and the motion carried 3–0. The board directed staff to file the revised maps as exhibits to the decision and to update the permit language accordingly.
The action amends two conditions of the board's original special‑permit decision and will be recorded with the site plans on file for future enforcement reviews. No members of the public spoke on the item at the meeting.
