Milford Planning Board moves to strip data centers from business-park zone

Planning Board · Meeting of July 14, 2026

Milford Planning Board votes to pursue data center zoning restrictions and hears high school building study nears state filing. The board unanimously agreed July 14 to draft zoning bylaw amendments removing electronic data storage centers from the BP zone entirely and requiring Planning Board special permits in the IA, IB, and IC industrial zones, where they are currently allowed by right. Town Planner Matthew Benoit warned the board that sweeping new state variance law changes — including a prohibition on attaching conditions to variance approvals and a broadened hardship standard — have significantly weakened local zoning authority.

On the school building front, Member Christopher Wilson reported that Consigli Construction was selected as construction manager for the initial study phase at $150,000, but that Skanska has filed an appeal; conceptual design options for a new grades 9-through-12 school are expected to be submitted to the Massachusetts School Building Authority this month. The board also conditionally endorsed an 81P plan correcting a longstanding title error on town-owned Haywood Street land where the Italian American Veterans had unknowingly built a pavilion on town property, and granted a three-year subdivision contract extension on Angela Drive.

In the full story:

• Who Was There
• Organizations And Documents Referenced
• The complete report — 3,287 words

Source: the Planning Board meeting of July 14, 2026, reported from the official video recording and transcript.