Westwood Planning Board Sends Seven Zoning Amendments Toward May Town Meeting

WESTWOOD -- March 10, 2026, Westwood Planning Board continues Everett Street hearing, advances seven zoning articles toward May Town Meeting. The board, chaired by Ellen Rawlings, continued a public hearing on a special permit amendment for the Block at 22 and 40 Everett Street, which would relocate and downsize a playground, adjust landscaping, and add off-street parking, to its April 7, 2026 meeting after lengthy discussion with the applicant. The board simultaneously advanced a package of seven proposed zoning bylaw amendments to a Finance and Warrant Commission public hearing on March 25, including articles that would establish a tiered regulatory framework for battery energy storage systems, raise the adult daycare client cap from 20 to 30, allow animal daycare in commercial and industrial zones by Zoning Board of Appeals special permit, clarify building height measurement within setback areas with a new 15-foot average-height ZBA pathway, expand permitted uses in the Administrative Office Research district, define and regulate short-term rentals for the first time in Westwood, and streamline indoor commercial recreation permitting to a single Planning Board special permit.