Newburyport Planning Board Advances New B-4 Mixed-Use Zone for Industrial Corridor

NEWBURYPORT — May 6, 2026 — Newburyport Planning Board advances plan to create a new mixed-use B-4 Business Park district along the industrial corridor linking the MBTA commuter rail station to Parker Street. Member Rick Tainter presented a slide-based concept that would convert the northern and eastern sections of the existing I-1 and I-1B industrial zones into the new district, formally recognizing a range of uses — gyms, breweries, medical offices, a church, and a function hall — that have taken root despite being nonconforming under current industrial zoning. Staff planner Andy Pennington noted the Planning Board has authority to sponsor its own zoning amendment and transmit it directly to the City Council without waiting for a council introduction, a path members said they would consider after further public outreach. The board also voted unanimously to find a Parker Street site-plan application complete and to continue a Caswell Brothers Realty public hearing, and received an update on four zoning ordinances moving through the council, including Ordinance 217, the demolition delay amendment, which emerged from committee with a proposal to extend delays to 18 months for structures predating 1924.