Plainville Boards Unanimously Appoint Richard Hamilton to Interim Planning Board Seat

NORTH ATTLEBOROUGH -- June 30, 2026, Plainville's joint Planning Board and Select Board unanimously named commercial lender Richard Hamilton to fill an interim Planning Board vacancy at a June 30 joint session. Hamilton, a Bluestone Bank commercial lender and former Finance Committee and Board of Assessors member, defeated two other candidates, former elected Planning Board member Chris Dupre and publishing director Dina DePray, on a 5-0 roll call vote after a nomination of DePray failed for lack of a second. Hamilton will serve until the next spring town election, when the remaining term will appear on the ballot. Director of Planning TJ Torres followed with the town's first annual master plan implementation update, reporting eight of 56 action items complete, seven in progress, and 20 not yet started, 15 months after the plan's March 2025 adoption. Completed milestones include downtown design guidelines adopted at 2026 Town Meeting, a mixed-use zoning amendment for the Routes 152 and 106 corridor, an ADU bylaw aligned with the 2024 Massachusetts Affordable Homes Act, and the launch of the OpenGov cross-departmental permitting platform.