Hubbardston Planning Board advances zoning e-codification, defers wireless bylaw changes

HUBBARDSTON -- May 21, 2026, Hubbardston Planning Board advances zoning e-codification package, leaves wireless bylaw untouched. Meeting May 21, the three-member board, chair, Mark Steiger, and Doug Carpenter, with associate member Chris Commodore, worked through roughly seven flagged sections in the town's draft electronic codification of its zoning bylaws, a project that will eventually come before town meeting as a single article. On accessory dwelling units, the board chose a short cross-reference to Article 24 rather than importing the state's narrower 900-square-foot definition, which conflicts with Hubbardston's 1,000-square-foot limit. The board left the wireless communications bylaw entirely unchanged, with Steiger noting the existing bylaw "is that out of touch with what federal law is and what state law is," and members expressing concern that the Attorney General's office could reject the section upon submission. A separate inconsistency between two slope-standard references in the general bylaws, one requiring a two-to-one grade limit, another three-to-one, was flagged for referral to the Select Board, as the earth removal bylaw sits outside the Planning Board's amendment authority.