Research snapshot · Development · 31 August 2026

Zoning and site plan in Massachusetts: 41 towns on the record, the pace easing

This page is a snapshot, cut 31 August 2026, of a topic that moves. Below is the shape of the movement, read from the towns' own meeting records, and the way to get a view of it that stays current.

Snapshot taken 31 August 2026, based on 59 dated municipal records flagged as zoning and site plan in Massachusetts, spanning 41 municipalities. The topic moves; a later cut supersedes this page.

What this page is for one topic at state or national scope, told as a story: how it arrived, the shape of its movement, a dated snapshot of a moving record, and the door to a view of it that stays current. If it does not, write to us; that is what changes the next edition.

The story so far

The record starts in Hudson, 22 June 2020. Since then 41 Massachusetts towns have put the topic on a meeting record, the newest of them Bourne on 25 June 2026.

The last 90 days put 4 meetings on the record, well down from 24 in the 90 days before.

It runs through the rooms where budgets and ordinances are made: Planning Board, Select Board and City Council.

The shape of the movement

Dated meetings on the record at this scope, quarter by quarter, and the same 90-day count as a rolling line, whose right-hand point is that number. Counts of documents, never a reading of what they decided.
QuarterMeetingsTowns
Sep 2025 to Nov 202532
Dec 2025 to Feb 202698
Mar 2026 to May 20262522
Jun 2026 to Aug 2026 (current)44

a rolling 90-day total, so the right-hand point is that same 90-day count. The busiest stretch was Mar 2026 to May 2026, with 25 meetings.

The towns on the record41, earliest first

Every Massachusetts town carrying the topic, the earliest first, each with its latest document.
Hudsonearliest 2020-06-22 · 1 meeting · latest 2020-06-22 · the document 2020 May Town Meeting Warrant Postponed to June 22, 2020 (PDF)
Peabodyearliest 2022-11-22 · 1 meeting · latest 2022-11-22 · the minutes 11/22/2022 - Regular Meeting
Andoverearliest 2023-02-13 · 3 meetings · latest 2025-04-01 · a report The Robb Center Report April 2025
Falmouthearliest 2024-05-18 · 1 meeting · latest 2024-05-18 · the posted document 2024-05-18 Part 2 PDF
Lynnfieldearliest 2024-08-05 · 1 meeting · latest 2024-08-05 · the agenda AgendaCenter agenda
Gloucesterearliest 2025-02-03 · 1 meeting · latest 2025-02-03 · the ordinance February 3, 2025
Billericaearliest 2025-04-14 · 9 meetings · latest 2026-01-22 · the agenda 2026-01-22 Rules and Regs Subcommittee Agenda
Sandwichearliest 2025-05-05 · 1 meeting · latest 2025-05-05 · the document Annual Town Meeting Warrant May 5, 2025
Marshfieldearliest 2025-05-12 · 1 meeting · latest 2025-05-12 · the minutes Select Board — Minutes 5-12-25
Salemearliest 2025-07-29 · 2 meetings · latest 2026-04-08 · the agenda Salem City Council Committee on Ordinances, Licenses and Legal Affairs co-posted with the Committee of the Whole, April
Medfordearliest 2025-11-12 · 4 meetings · latest 2026-03-25 · the agenda City Council and Community Development Board Joint Meeting 2026-03-25 — 2026.03.25 - Medford City Council and Community
Chelmsfordearliest 2026-01-28 · 1 meeting · latest 2026-01-28 · the agenda Chelmsford Planning Board
Acushnetearliest 2026-02-05 · 1 meeting · latest 2026-02-05 · the agenda AgendaCenter agenda
Wakefieldearliest 2026-02-05 · 1 meeting · latest 2026-02-05 · the agenda AgendaCenter agenda
Auburnearliest 2026-02-09 · 1 meeting · latest 2026-02-09 · the minutes Agenda center file Board of Selectmen

And 26 more towns on the record, in an account view.

From the record

The most recent documents behind this page, one per town. Each link opens the town's own file.

25 June 2026 · Bourne

the minutes, on the town's own site Minutes — 2026-06-25

22 June 2026 · Marlborough City Council

the document, on the town's own site 969

10 June 2026 · Mansfield Planning Board

the agenda, on the town's own site Planning Board

10 June 2026 · Burlington Zoning Bylaw Review Committee

the agenda, on the town's own site Regular Meeting

Companies on this record106 companies, 33 documents

Named in the same documents that carry this topic, read from the record itself: the firms designing, building and advising the work, each with where the record places them:
ComcastMansfield, Marlborough, Medford
VerizonMansfield, Medford
Isaac B. “Zac” BearsMedford
Community Development BoardMedford
Office of Planning, Development, and SustainabilityMedford
68 Tower StreetHudson
A Place at HomeAndover
ABCCBillerica
AECOMChelmsford
AG's OfficeBurlington
AgeSpanAndover
AGI - Bella NissanPittsfield
Amagold Financial LLCMarlborough
Andover Elder ServicesAndover
Andover Senior Community FriendsAndover
Andover Town Planning staffAndover
Anthony O’DonnellSalem
Arnold Medeiros Properties LLCMansfield
Barrett Planning Group, LLCAndover
Bay Ridge Realty GroupBourne
Berlundi'sBillerica
BJ's Wholesale ClubMedford
Brookline Interactive GroupBrookline
Center for Active LivingSandwich
Cervizzi’s Martial Arts AcademyAndover
CF Elite Club Peabody, LLCPeabody
CF Elite Sports ClubsPeabody
Chessia ConsultingNorwell
CliftonLarsonAllen (CLA)Brookline
CMRPCRutland

And 76 more companies.

The documents naming each, and the threads they sit in, are the account view. If one of these is you, those are your projects on the record. Ask and we will show you every one, and the towns around them, as they move.

A snapshot of a moving record

Everything above is frozen at 31 August 2026; the topic is not. 146 more events on this topic carry no usable date and are counted, never dated. The counts follow where we read most: a town or a state absent here was not read at depth, and absence is not evidence the topic is absent there. A lighter-read state is not a ceiling; where you care about a region, pointing the system there is the first thing an account changes. How coverage is built, and its known limits: municipalalpha.com/methodology.

How we can tell you about it ongoing

We track this topic continuously; this page is one cut of it, taken 31 August 2026. An account turns the snapshot into a working view: every town and every document behind these counts, the thread on each matter as it develops, word of new meetings as they land on the record, your own states and topics side by side, and the data itself when you want it in a table. The towns above are the taste; what each is actually deciding, funding or stalling is the read an account carries.

Also at this scope: Zoning and site plan across the country. Counts and dates are computed from the documents on the record; the topic and its definition are ours. This page carries no subscriber content.

Zoning and site plan, Massachusetts

from the towns' own meeting records

Scope

Massachusetts

every topic this state carries

Area

Development

every topic in this area

Towns on the record

41

with a dated document on this topic

Earliest

22 June 2020

the documents' dates

Meetings, last 90 days

4 against 24 before

dated documents

Snapshot cut

31 August 2026

this page's date

A view that stays current

ask for yours