Newbury Planning Board Advances Sweeping Zoning Package Toward May Town Meeting

Planning Board · Meeting of January 7, 2026

Newbury Planning Board clears two public hearing votes and advances a broad zoning overhaul toward the May 5 Annual Town Meeting. At the January 7 meeting, Special Projects Planner Martha Taylor and Town Planner Kristen Grubbs walked the board through a package that includes a zoning recodification, three proposed district boundary changes, a new consolidated clean energy article covering solar and battery energy storage, and a draft inclusionary zoning bylaw, the latter still described as needing significant tailoring to Newbury's conditions before it is ready for a public vote. Member Lawrence Murphy called the current inclusionary draft "almost a generic bylaw," while member Stephen Mangion warned he would "view the proposal with a dim eye" unless details were clarified before any vote.

The board also heard from Robin Ethridge, chair of the Lower Green Local Historic District Study Committee, who reported state endorsement of the three-year effort and said a two-thirds town meeting majority is required for the district to be established, with a public hearing due no later than early March.

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Source: the Planning Board meeting of January 7, 2026, reported from the official video recording and transcript.