Westminster Planning Board Approves 88 State Road West Site Plan With Affordable Housing Conditions

WINCHENDON — July 14, 2026 — Westminster Planning Board approves 88 State Road West site plan and moves two zoning amendments to town meeting. The board voted unanimously Tuesday to grant site plan, stormwater management, and low-impact development approval to 88 State Road West LLC for a residential project in the R1 district, with eight units designated as affordable housing subject to EOHLC oversight; the applicant must still secure a floodplain special permit from the Zoning Board of Appeals before construction can begin. The board also voted unanimously to recommend to town meeting a fix to a contradictory MBTA Communities parking provision — which simultaneously required 1.5 parking spaces per unit but capped spaces at one per bedroom — and a ban on data centers in all zoning districts, with Planning Director Ryan Doherty noting the data center prohibition is intended to "get ahead of problems." Three additional amendments — covering battery energy storage system standards, a minimum lot size increase in the Residential 3 district from roughly two acres to roughly three acres, and revisions to Village Center District architectural standards — were each continued to the August 25 meeting at 6 p.m.