Newbury Planning Board advances four zoning amendments to annual town meeting warrant

Planning Board · Meeting of March 4, 2026

Newbury Planning Board unanimously advances four zoning warrant articles and approves Sunset Club site plan 4-1. The board, chaired by Woody Knight, voted March 4 to forward a package of amendments to the Select Board for the May 5 annual town meeting at Triton High School Auditorium, including Phase 2 of a zoning recodification touching all bylaw articles, table-of-use revisions shifting special permit authority from the Select Board to the Planning Board or ZBA for uses such as membership clubs and assisted living facilities, a new Clean Energy Facilities article adding battery energy storage system regulations and updated solar rules aligned with the 2024 Massachusetts Climate Act and the Tracer Lane decision, and a new inclusionary zoning bylaw offering developers one bonus market-rate unit per affordable unit at 80 percent AMI and two bonus units per unit at 60 percent AMI in developments of four or more units. Merrimack Valley Planning Commission planner Ian described the 80 percent AMI income limit as approximately $80,000 per year for a single-person household in the Boston metro area.

On the Sunset Club application at 2-8 Old Point Road, member Stephen Mangion voted no, citing concerns about the pavilion's mass and its obstruction of scenic views along the Plum Island Turnpike; the hearing was continued to March 18 pending town counsel review of the draft decision.

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Source: the Planning Board meeting of March 4, 2026, reported from the official video recording and transcript.