Dighton Open Space Committee votes to double town's development open space requirement

Other Committee · Meeting of January 14, 2026

Dighton's Open Space Committee voted unanimously to recommend raising the town's development open space requirement from 20 percent to 50 percent, with wetlands excluded from the calculation. Chair Jonathan Gale said the change, proposed for the draft conservation subdivision zoning bylaw being prepared by SRPEDD, is aimed at reducing the buildable footprint of large residential projects; members noted that the contested Strawberry Fields 40-B development, currently in litigation, illustrates the stakes. SRPEDD is scheduled to present the draft to the Planning Board in February, with warrant articles due by mid-April for town meeting.

The committee also moved through the first section of a state-required Open Space and Recreation Plan action table, rating trail connections as moderate priority and both a public trail-and-canoe guide and the town's ongoing ADA transition work as high priority, with Clerk Danica Belknap noting that keeping the plan current "unlocks grant funding from the state Division of Conservation Services." The committee separately agreed to interview applicant Ken Finnett, a 33-year resident and attorney, for its vacant fifth seat at its February 4 meeting.

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Source: the Other Committee meeting of January 14, 2026, reported from the official video recording and transcript.