Southwick Master Plan Panel Closes First Action Item, Forwarding to Select Board

SOUTHWICK -- May 27, 2026, Southwick's Master Plan Implementation Committee unanimously closed its first tracked action item at a May 27 hybrid meeting. The committee voted to accept the Agricultural Commission's completion of Open Space item 1.4, which required organizing an annual open forum to educate landowners on permanently protecting their land; the commission has held a Farmers Forum every January for three years, with attendance and programming growing each year, including a recent appearance by the Massachusetts Department of Agricultural Resources to discuss Chapter 61A and 61B land classification. The closure, the first in the committee's tracking list, will be forwarded to the Planning Board and Select Board. With a June 30 deadline approaching, the committee flagged two economic development items awaiting a response from a town contact, a housing permitting item now folded into a broader zoning review, and a legally uncertain Community Preservation Committee transfer question referred to the chief administrative officer. The committee's June 24 meeting was identified as the last opportunity to complete outstanding items before the fiscal year deadline.