Norwood Planning Board advances parking waiver rules, tackles data center zoning threat

NORWOOD — June 29, 2026 — Norwood Planning Board advances parking waiver criteria and moves toward regulating data centers. The board voted 5-0 at its June 29 meeting to continue a public hearing on a proposed mural at 528-534 Washington Street to July 13 after Planning Director Sarah Dixon flagged a newspaper-publication defect, and separately endorsed an Approval Not Required land division at 52-58 Whitewood Circle — a family split of an inherited parcel described by applicant Gregor Fondos as straightforward. The board's most substantive work involved draft finding criteria for parking waivers under proposed Section 6.1.12, with Member Debbie Homewood pushing for language that would give "particular consideration" to impacts on abutting properties beyond the standard "substantial detriment to the neighborhood" test, and the board also agreed to add an "on site" preference to the good-faith-effort criterion. On urgent care facilities, the board directed Dixon to remove the Central Business District as a permissible location, citing double-parking concerns, and to delete a draft criterion excluding preventive services. The board's sharpest exchange came on data centers: Dixon disclosed that at least one operator had already approached the town's light department, which could not meet the facility's projected power demand, prompting Member Joe Curran to say he was "very nervous about the potential downside on our utilities," and the board directed Dixon to seek a Town Counsel opinion on whether data centers can be outright banned, alongside capacity memos from the light and water departments.