Whately Planning Board Delays Battery Storage Hearing Due to Election Day Conflict

WHATELY -- April 28, 2026, Whately Planning Board continues battery storage hearing to May 5 after election-day conflict. The board, meeting April 28 with three members present, voted unanimously to reschedule the continuation of its public hearing on a proposed zoning bylaw amendment covering energy storage and solar energy facilities, state law bars public hearings on election days, and April 28 was a Whately town election day. An updated draft of the bylaw, revised by town counsel, is to be circulated before the May 5 session, where the board expects to vote and prepare a formal recommendation for the Selectboard ahead of annual town meeting in June. The board also received a comprehensive plan briefing from Megan Rhodes, Livability Program Manager for the Franklin Regional Council of Governments, who presented a build-out analysis projecting up to 410 new potential housing units in town under current zoning, against an existing stock of roughly 700 homes, with 62 percent of buildable land either active farmland or environmentally sensitive. A public open house is planned for June 6 at the Whately library, and the completed plan must be accepted by the board before the grant funding deadline of June 30.