Framingham Planning Board Meeting - November 21, 2025
Framingham Planning Board Meeting - November 21, 2025
The Framingham Planning Board met on Thursday, November 20, 2025 (continuing into the early hours of November 21) in the Plummer Community Room and remotely. Chair Ted Cosgrove presided. The board endorsed an approval not required (ANR) plan, approved a dual-use solar array under the Dover Amendment, and discussed Chapter 40Y starter home districts and other business.
Consent Calendar
- 641 Grove Street ANR Endorsement: Unanimous approval of an ANR plan to subdivide a 2.43-acre lot (R-4 district) into two lots of 1.00 and 1.43 acres. Minimum required lot size is 1 acre; frontage meets the 100-foot requirement (existing ~230 ft). A portion of the existing structure must be demolished to meet the 30-foot setback. Motion to endorse, seconded, and passed unanimously.
Public Comments & Testimony
- No members of the public offered comments during the meeting.
Discussion Items
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1062 Edmonds Road – Dual-Use Solar Array (Eastley Farm): Applicant Doug Stefan (Eastley Farm) and Justin Gillotham (Solar Collective) presented a 729 kW DC ground-mounted solar installation on 3.5 acres of pasture. The project incorporates dual-use agriculture: panels are elevated 8.5–10 feet to allow continued grazing by cows. The property is 114 acres and surrounded on three sides by Callahan State Park; the nearest neighboring parcel is approximately 2,025 feet away (Southborough town line). The fire department requested a fence, but the applicant plans to fence only the equipment pad. The project is categorized under the Dover Amendment (MGL Chapter 40A, Section 3) as applied to ground-mounted solar. The board discussed the Dover Amendment's applicability and confirmed the project complies with zoning. A motion to approve was seconded and passed unanimously.
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Chapter 40Y Starter Home Districts: Chair Cosgrove introduced the topic, explaining that Chapter 40Y allows creation of starter home districts with at least four units per acre, 50% of units having three or more bedrooms. The state provides incentives. Board members discussed integrating this into the larger housing plan, potential locations (e.g., Knobscott area, MCI site), and the impact on school demographics. No motion or vote was taken; the board agreed to consider it as part of comprehensive zoning updates.
Key Outcomes
- ANR Endorsement: Approved unanimously.
- Solar Project Approval: Approved unanimously.
- Denison Street Parking Letter: Draft letter to the Traffic Commission remains under review; board members requested the restriction be applied to the entire hill, not just two properties. The chair will adjust the draft.
- CPC Funding for Ron Chick Project: The board received an inquiry but deferred action, requesting more detail and a formal plan before considering endorsement.
- Next Steps: The chair plans to meet with Sean Silk and others to coordinate resources for master planning and Sci-Fox obligations. The board acknowledged a groundbreaking at the Waverley chicken bone site.
Meeting Transcript
The Framingham Planning Board is comprised of five members. The board reviews the wide range of applications for commercial and residential projects. The mission of the planning board is to ensure the projects increase quality of life, contribute to economic development, and are consistent with Framingham's character. The Framingham Planning Board is also responsible for enforcing and revising the zoning bylaws and developing and implementing the city's master plan. The following planning board meeting coverage is brought to you by the government channel, a service of the city of Framingham. My name is Ted Cosgrove. I'm the chair of the let me boy, I go through this every time. Let me there we go. Kill the microphone there. All right. The hour being seven o'clock, we will begin. Please note the meeting is recorded, and uh some of the attendees, if they are participating by video conference, please be aware that uh you are being recorded, so you might want to go to mute and turn off your video until you're ready to speak. Uh the first we have a couple items of business. Um the first thing I want to bring up is uh an alert that uh the city of Framingham has had to issue related to permits. Uh and I'm just gonna read this because it is directly related to uh some of the applicants here on our planning board. Uh the city of Framingham is warning residents, contractors, and local businesses about an active email scam involving fraudulent requests for payment related to municipal permits. Scammers are sending fake emails that appear to notify recipients that their permit has been approved and instructing them to wire money or make online payments through unofficial links. These emails do not come from the city of Framingham and are designed to trick recipients into sending funds to fraudulent accounts. All legitimate city communications come from email addresses ending in Framingham Mass.gov, and all payments for permits must be made directly through the city's official website or in person at City Hall. So please be advised. The next item of business tonight is uh to consider our endorsement of an approval not required uh under the subdivision uh control plan. So is the uh the parties here for 641 Grove Street present? Why don't you come up to the microphone? Uh uh hey Elisha. Can you hear me? Yes. Perfect. Good evening, everyone. My name is uh Orash Masari. I'm here to present uh the ANR plan for the uh to present the uh proposed uh ANR plan for 641 Grove Street, prepared by uh Metro West Engineering. Um I have a large copy of the plan. I don't know if it is if it is helpful. I can hand it out, but if you can see, we have a copy of a copy in our files. Perfect. So uh the properties located in the uh single family residence or for district. The uh intent here is to subdivide uh uh the existing lot into two separate lots. And the current parcel exists uh I'm sorry, the uh current parcel uh consists of 2.43 acres. The minimum required lot size in the zoning district is one acre. Six uh 41 uh Grove Street has 2.43. And lot one will retain the existing single family home building as the part of the ANR process. We ensure it and confirm that both lots meet uh the required lot size and frontage. After subdivision, lot one will be one acre, and uh the new lot will be 1.43. Uh the minimum uh frontage. Um requirement in this uh uh district is 100 feet, 641 uh has approximately uh 230, slightly over 220 feet, uh which satisfies the zoning uh requirement to make the subdivision uh possible and fully compliant with the zoning regulations, a portion of the existing structure shown as the hatched area on the plan uh must be demolished as it uh currently falls within the 30 uh uh foot setback of the proposed uh new lot line. Um we chose to proceed with this uh uh uh demolition to ensure that the ANR uh plan meets all the zoning laws. So uh that was pretty much it. Okay, very good, thank you. Sure. Uh anyone on the board have any questions for the applicant? Did did he did they already remove that or they plan to remove it?
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