Town Meeting passes battery bylaw with 300-foot buffer

Town Meeting · Meeting of October 20, 2026

Pembroke Town Meeting approved a battery storage bylaw after doubling its residential buffer to 300 feet. Voters adopted Sue Bollinger's amendment, replacing the Planning Board's 150-foot buffer, before passing the bylaw by the required two-thirds. Town Counsel Michelle Randazzo warned it was "untested" whether the Attorney General would view 300 feet as effectively prohibiting battery storage, which could lead to disapproval of the whole bylaw.

Planning Board Vice Chair Alicia Cicilliano-Perry had cited a 50-foot state model. Voters also added $234,098.08 to the fiscal 2027 budget, including $202,895 for schools and $31,203.08 for snow and ice, and approved $216,000 from the Capital Stabilization Fund. They approved $157,200 in Community Preservation grants and $17,439.33 in unpaid prior-year bills.

In the full story:

• Opening and quorum
• Public safety buildings and the Turner House
• Articles 6 and 7: no action
• Article 5: Community Preservation Fund
• Article 3: capital projects
• Article 4: battery energy storage bylaw
• Article 1: fiscal 2027 operating budget
• Article 2: prior-year bills
• Close
• Who Was There
• Organizations And Documents Referenced
• The complete report: 2,062 words

Source: the Town Meeting meeting of October 20, 2026, reported from the official video recording and transcript.

Checked against the record: before publication this article was automatically compared with the meeting transcript.