Planning Board Moves to Restrict Data Centers, Overhaul 62-Year-Old Zoning Notation

Planning Board · Meeting of August 3, 2026

North Attleborough Planning Board identifies data centers, battery storage as top zoning gaps. At its August 3 meeting, the board voted unanimously to withdraw without prejudice a stalled special-permit application for 119 Washington Street, where the applicant had failed to appear four consecutive times ahead of an August 30 decision deadline. Town Planner TJ led an informal bylaw workshop revealing the town has no zoning language governing data centers or battery energy storage systems, leaving the door open for applicants to propose either use in existing commercial or industrial buildings.

Members strongly favored banning data centers outright pending further research, citing water consumption, electrical demand, and the noise of diesel backup generators, while also directing TJ to gather examples of how other towns regulate residential and commercial battery storage. The board also flagged the zoning use table's 62-year-old notation system, in which O means prohibited and P means permitted, as so confusing that even veteran members routinely misread it, and directed TJ to draft a simpler Y, N, and S system. The town separately received a $45,000 state grant for a hazard mitigation plan update to be performed by SRPEDD at no cost to the town, and TJ announced he is now serving as conservation agent following the departure of Kevin Baldwin.

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• Who Was There
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Source: the Planning Board meeting of August 3, 2026, reported from the official video recording and transcript.