Planning Board Approves Housing Plan, Energy Code Vote

Planning Board · Meeting of April 23, 2026

Groton Planning Board approved a new Housing Production Plan and voted to recommend the Specialized Stretch Energy Code to Town Meeting. The housing plan, drafted free of charge by the Montachusett Regional Planning Commission, passed unanimously after presenter Fran Stanley said it would "give a richer picture than the bare minimum." The energy code recommendation passed on a divided voice vote after member Paul Hathaway said he was "not in favor of mandating technologies that are effective most of the year, but not all year." Destination Groton's Greg Sheldon pitched a 10-year, multi-board "town center vision commission," citing $50,000 and $25,000 state grants and an estimated $60 million to $75 million in retail spending leaving town annually. The board also pressed a Town Line Road used car dealership for a scaled site plan before weighing an 18-space parking expansion, and extended the Casella Meadows decision deadline to May 30.

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Source: the Planning Board meeting of April 23, 2026, reported from the official video recording and transcript.

Checked against the record: before publication this article was automatically compared with the meeting transcript. It was corrected where it differed.