Millis Planning Board Opens Hearing on 44-Lot Woodlands Subdivision, Continues to April

MILLIS -- February 10, 2026, Millis Planning Board opens public hearing on 44-lot Woodlands subdivision and advances battery storage zoning. The board unanimously continued the public hearing on the Woodlands LLC definitive open space subdivision plan, a 44-lot, 53-acre development off Main Street with a primary entrance via Phillip Road and a secondary connection to North Street, to April 7, 2026, giving engineer Dan Merican of Legacy Engineering time to respond to peer-review comments from the town's consultant, Beta. Neighbors packed the hearing room with concerns about traffic funneling through narrow residential streets, prompting one board member to note that police and fire have already incorporated the project's projected demand into their current budget presentations to the Select Board. The board also voted unanimously to close the special permit for Acorn Place, a senior residential community on Acorn Street, finding substantial compliance with approved plans; Steve Card, president of the Acorn Place Board of Trustees, thanked the board for "two entire years" of work on the project. In a third unanimous vote, the board referred proposed zoning definitions for battery energy storage systems and data centers to the Select Board for referral back to a Planning Board public hearing, with members citing the risk that pending state Department of Energy Resources model bylaws would allow such facilities by right in any zoning district, including residential neighborhoods.