Westminster Planning Board continues apartment hearing, approves business park bond cut

WINCHENDON -- May 12, 2026, Westminster Planning Board approved a business park bond reduction and voted to recommend the town preserve a large Chapter 61 parcel abutting Hager Park, while continuing a public hearing on a 32-unit apartment proposal. The board unanimously endorsed a reduced bond for the Westminster Business Park subdivision after the applicant's engineer and both DPW and consulting firm Tetra Tech confirmed remaining work is on track for eventual town road acceptance. On a separate Chapter 61 right-of-first-refusal matter tied to the former Archangeli property on Linda Drive, members called piecemeal subdivision of the parcel "a loophole" in Chapter 61 and voted to recommend the town not waive its right to the larger tract, while declining to purchase the three one-acre lots currently on offer, estimated at $150,000 to $200,000 each. A public hearing on the State Road West 88 LLC application to build 32 residential units was continued to May 26 pending Tetra Tech's review of seven requested waivers; the applicant cut proposed visitor parking from 18 to nine spaces and significantly increased native plantings since the last hearing. The board also signaled support for a flat ban on data centers town-wide and a special-permit framework for battery energy storage in industrial zones, targeting a November special town meeting for bylaw amendments.