Bourne Planning Board – Zoning Bylaw Work Session (October 5, 2026)

The Bourne Planning Board held an open session on October 5, 2026, to discuss proposed zoning bylaw amendments for the 2027 Annual Town Meeting. The agenda centered on battery energy storage systems (BESS), a data center moratorium, and proposed revisions to the landscaping section. The board approved the consent/agenda item, but took no final votes on the zoning amendments. Instead, it directed staff to gather more technical and legal information, develop maps, and refine drafts.

Note: The raw transcript states the meeting was called to order on October 8, 2026, while the meeting timestamp used for this summary is October 5, 2026.

Consent Calendar

• The board voted unanimously to approve the agenda/consent calendar as presented, with a motion by Chris and a second by Jim.

Battery Energy Storage Systems (BESS)

• Planning staff presented a draft BESS bylaw modeled on state guidance and the Department of Energy Resources (DOER) expedited permitting program that took effect October 1. The draft would create a new clean-energy section, possibly Section 5000, and included BESS, a data center moratorium, and potentially future EV charging stations.
• Staff noted the draft is detailed and includes tiered use categories, a use table with many TBD entries, definitions, emergency response requirements, and decommissioning standards. Members were told that BESS facilities are likely protected under the Dover Amendment, which limits local control but still allows site plan review and reasonable regulation.
• Several members expressed strong concern about fire risk, chemical releases, groundwater contamination, and the proposed Bournedale Road site above the Plymouth lens and drinking water supply. One member stated that the claimed $3 million per year in tax revenue plus a host community agreement was not worth the risk to drinking water.
• Other members said BESS is coming and that the board should write a locally tailored bylaw with scientifically defensible siting standards, rather than trying to prohibit the use outright.
• The board discussed using an overlay district, GIS mapping of wellhead protection zones and existing solar/wind overlay areas, fire department review, independent third-party peer review paid by the applicant, and outside advice from town counsel, the Cape Cod Commission, and CVEC.
• Members agreed more information is needed before making any recommendation on the pending release of Chapter 61A land for the Bournedale Road proposal.

Data Center Moratorium

• Staff presented a draft data center moratorium intended to give the town time to study the impacts of data centers, including water use, energy demand, and environmental risks.
• One member argued the proposed moratorium was too long and the draft definition was flawed, noting that Mansfield and Northborough have adopted zoning regulations instead of moratoriums. He suggested the board prepare a data center zoning bylaw for the spring town meeting rather than rely on a moratorium.
• Other members raised concerns about diesel backup generators, cooling systems, water use near aquifers, and energy costs being shifted to local ratepayers. Some members said smaller facilities, such as those under two megawatts, could be acceptable, while hyperscale data centers are unlikely to locate in Bourne.
• The board discussed creating a subcommittee to research data centers and related BESS issues, with members Steve, Catherine, Doc, and Rob named as potential participants.
• Staff agreed to delete the draft data center definition and simplify the moratorium as a possible fallback while the board explores a more permanent bylaw.

Landscaping Section 3500

• Doc presented proposed revisions to the landscaping section, including use of the ANSI Z60-1 nursery stock standard, removal of diameter-at-breast-height measurements, caliper measurement at six inches for smaller trees and twelve inches for larger trees, shade and street trees in the three-to-three-and-a-half-inch caliper class, shrubs at 24 to 30 inches in height, snow-storage plantings tolerant of crushing, and ground surface cover over at least four inches of topsoil.
• The draft also included planning board inspection of final plantings, retention of existing vegetation where possible, and a one-year warranty period tied to installation of an automatic irrigation system or an approved landscape maintenance contract.
• Board members generally supported the changes. One member asked about owners performing their own maintenance; Doc responded that a properly executed contract with a specified scope could be accepted before the certificate of occupancy inspection.

Dark Skies Update

• Catherine reported that a draft dark-skies lighting bylaw would be ready in a few weeks. She noted that about eleven towns have taken different approaches, including commercial-only applicability, residential exemptions, grandfathering, and reduced municipal lighting, and that the board needs to decide what can be successfully presented to town meeting.

Upcoming Cape Cod Commission Hearings

• Staff announced a Cape Cod Commission DRI hearing for 340 MacArthur Boulevard, the former Adventure Isle property, on October 22 at 4 p.m., and an Algonquin Pipeline relocation hearing on October 28 at 5 p.m., both in the same room.

Key Outcomes

• Approved the consent/agenda item unanimously.
• Directed staff to seek a second review or opinion on BESS, prepare GIS/wellhead/solar overlay maps, provide Dover Amendment information, and follow up with the fire department and outside technical resources.
• Agreed by consensus to form a subcommittee to research data centers and BESS issues, with the goal of potentially bringing a bylaw to the spring town meeting.
• Staff will remove the data center definition from the moratorium draft and keep the moratorium as a possible backup.
• Doc will email the proposed landscape amendments, which the board voiced support for.
• A dark-skies draft will be brought to a future board agenda.