Lakeville Planning Board Advances Data Center Zoning Rules to Town Meeting

LAKEVILLE -- May 14, 2026, Lakeville Planning Board closes public hearing on data center zoning article, forwarding it to Town Meeting. The board advanced Article 16, which would add a first-ever zoning definition for data centers, create a Marijuana and Data Center Overlay District within the town's industrial zone, and require a special permit from the Planning Board for any future data center proposal. No members of the public offered comment at the May 14 hearing. Board members said the measure was prompted by the discovery that the Planned Special Purpose District already listed data centers as a permitted principal use subject only to site plan review, a pathway members called a loophole. "It's concerning that it could have just gone in there through site plan review only," one member said. Town Counsel reviewed and approved the draft language. If voters approve the article, the board plans to hire a consultant to develop additional performance standards covering electrical load limits, water usage caps, noise monitoring, and generator testing restrictions, regulations the board could adopt without returning to Town Meeting.