Marlborough council denies 415 Elm Street warehouse permit on 4-6 vote

MARLBOROUGH -- September 22, 2025, Marlborough City Council denies 415 Elm Street warehouse permit 4-6, falling short of Chapter 40A supermajority. The 203,500-square-foot distribution facility on a 24-acre wooded parcel inside the water supply protection district needed eight affirmative votes; it got four. Councilors Mark A. Oram, Kathleen D. Robey, Sean A. Navin, Robert Preciado, David Doucette and the Ward 4 councilor voted no, despite layered conditions including a $25,000 conservation payment, binding traffic limits, a 75-percent-occupancy noise study and an explicit ban on direct-to-consumer fulfillment use. Robey said the plan would clear up to 75 percent of the trees and cover 43 percent of the lot where 33 percent is allowed; "the project is too big," she said. Ward 6 Councilor A. Trey Fuccillo, who voted yes, countered that the conditions "are binding the applicant to abide by this." The council separately accepted $7,951,438 in certified free cash and transferred $795,143.80 each to OPEB and stabilization.