Planning Board endorses $20,000 Sewataro visioning article 5-0

SUDBURY -- April 8, 2026, Sudbury Planning Board endorses $20,000 Sewataro facilitator article 5-0. The board voted unanimously April 8 to support Town Meeting Article 19, which would hire a qualified consultant to run public visioning sessions on the Liberty Ledges/Sewataro property. Town Planner Adam Duchesneau described the role as facilitator-only, "not someone who's going to perform an actual planning, engineering, or survey study." Member Julie Zelermyer Perlman contrasted the request with a prior $200,000 Sewataro article the board had declined to back, calling the new version "a lot smaller and more targeted" and "not a blank check for a full plan." Duchesneau also briefed the board on new state Energy Facilities Siting Board rules imposing a 12-month shot clock on solar approvals, voluntary July 1, mandatory October 1, and on a potential battery energy storage system bylaw he warned could otherwise default to "allowed because they fit in this other category."