HANSON - January 13, 2026 - The Hanson Select Board moved to “future-proof” the town against unregulated large-scale developments Tuesday night, advancing zoning amendments for Battery Energy Storage Systems (BESS) and flagging “data farms” as a potential looming issue.
Superb coverage of what most would dismiss as boring policy. The insight about regulatory timing is spot-on becuase once a developer files an application, the leverage shifts completely. I've seen towns scramble after a BESS proposal landed, and it always turns into expensive legal battles. Hanson's planner gets it thatpreventive zoning costs pennies compared to reactive litigation and potential decades of unwanted infrastructure.
Superb coverage of what most would dismiss as boring policy. The insight about regulatory timing is spot-on becuase once a developer files an application, the leverage shifts completely. I've seen towns scramble after a BESS proposal landed, and it always turns into expensive legal battles. Hanson's planner gets it thatpreventive zoning costs pennies compared to reactive litigation and potential decades of unwanted infrastructure.