North Attleborough Planning Board Continues Hatch Materials, Horse Farm Reviews to September

NORTH ATTLEBORO -- July 20, 2026, North Attleborough Planning Board continues two major site plan reviews to September amid noise and groundwater concerns. The board voted unanimously at its July 20 meeting to push both the 1 and 2 Tisbert Way horse farm application and the 128 Washington Street Hatch Materials mixed-use development to September 2, extending decision deadlines to September 2 and September 23, respectively. The Hatch proposal, a hotel, 6,000 square feet of offices, 24,000 square feet of warehouse space, and a landscape processing yard in a former 32-foot-deep gravel pit, drew six public speakers, including Dorothy Chase of 76 Everett Skinner, who holds a PhD in law and public policy and cited OSHA data showing commercial stump grinders reach 110 to 115 decibels against a Massachusetts residential limit of 55, warning that sound would amplify over adjacent marshland and Turnpike Lake. Attorney Bo Akers confirmed the operation is "moving" from its current 80 Washington Street location, not duplicating, and that a noise study using roughly 30 sensors was conducted the previous Friday, with results expected before September. The board voted to request a peer review of the applicant's traffic study and newly sworn-in member Rick Hamilton was unanimously appointed to the Community Preservation Committee.