Marlborough City Council Proposes New Climate Action Plan

MARLBOROUGH, MA — Earlier this year, Marlborough released the ordinance draft changes along with the resilience design guidance document. The updated document states that it “will assist developers in designing projects which are in line with the city’s goals of climate resiliency and preparedness."

Building ordinances are safety and health regulations that must be adhered to when constructing or rebuilding structures. As climate change becomes a more pressing issue, Marlborough recognizes that protecting the environment in turn protects its citizens. One such example is the ordinance that ensures that the clearing of vegetation for buildings "will not result in the intensification of flood impacts." This prohibits the tree population from decreasing past the current number. Additionally, the ordinance outlines how deep construction can dig so that it does not result in "significant changes in the water table."

This update is necessary as evidenced by a 2011 study done by Jonathan Thompson, David Foster, Robert Scheller, and David Kittredge evaluating 50 years (2011-2060) of predicted regional forest change in Massachusetts. They concluded that while forest growth rates will continue to rise, "this will be more than offset by land use, primarily forest conversion to developed users."

Not only will these new ordinances minimize these deductions, they also target and improve a variety of other areas of environmentalism such as heat island impacts, stormwater runoff and contamination of water bodies.

While Marlborough’s municipal government is making great strides, its citizens are the ones who have the power to make an impact. Marlborough residents can be a part of the climate solution by:

• Shopping locally and sustainably
• Reducing food waste
• Planting more trees
• Recycling
• Choosing eco-friendly products

Finally, residents can supply feedback on both the Ordinance Change draft and the Resilience Design Guidance document by emailing the Marlborough city engineer, Thomas DiPersio, at tdipersio@marlborough-ma.gov or the Conservation/Sustainability Officer Priscilla Ryder at pryder@marlborough-ma.gov. These documents can be found here.