PLYMOUTH — Oct. 5, 2026 — Plymouth’s septic repair loan program has spent $546,914 since last fall, more than last fall’s Town Meeting allocated, and has $251,347 left, a planning official told the Committee of Precinct Chairs on Monday as members reviewed Article 17, a request to borrow another $400,000 that goes to Fall Town Meeting on Oct. 17.
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Article 17 would borrow $400,000 through the Massachusetts Water Pollution Abatement Trust for loans to repair or replace failing septic systems and pay for sewer tie-ins. A town video shown to the committee said the program has helped 422 homeowners across 17 previous rounds since 1999. Homeowners can borrow up to $35,000 per property at 5% over five to 15 years, recorded as liens.
The balance figures came in answer to a member who asked whether last year’s money had been exhausted. Michael Silveira, Deputy Director of Planning and Development, said each of the last two rounds was $400,000 and that, at the current pace, staff fear the account will run dry before spring and certainly by next fall. A surge of applications brought the department back only a year after its last request, Silveira said. Asked whether staff would return in the spring for another $400,000, he said they do not believe that will be necessary.
The town borrows at 2% and bills homeowners at 5%, so it earns money on the program, Silveira said. Loans are open only to homeowners, not commercial entities. Don Williams from Precinct 8, citing the Comprehensive Wastewater Management Plan’s work on a 20-year sewering plan, asked whether the borrowing could grow as sewers replace septic systems. Silveira said the department could look at increasing the request if the trend continues.
Data centers drew the longest questioning. Article 16 would impose a one-year moratorium on data centers from Oct. 17, 2026, through Oct. 16, 2027, while the Planning Board drafts regulations for the fall 2027 Special Town Meeting. Silveira said no data center projects are currently proposed in Plymouth. The only moratoriums the department knows of are in Lowell, Westfield and Shutesbury, while Mansfield has adopted size limits; Silveira said the department knows of no other South Shore community studying the issue.
Williams argued that zoning should not be the town’s only tool and raised concern about where cooling water would go. A member asked staff to report back in a quarter or so on what they are considering, and Silveira agreed to return to discuss progress. He also said the Planning Board added language so the data center definition would not necessarily apply to a hospital or other primary use that needs servers.
Article 15 would eliminate the 0.25 maximum floor area ratio for light industry and renewable or alternative energy manufacturing in the Light Industrial district, aligning those uses with the district’s 0.75 limit. It would also exempt screened rooftop mechanical equipment from height calculations and ease setback and special permit rules in the height overlay district. Silveira said the changes would chiefly affect Plymouth Industrial Park and Camelot Drive Industrial Park.
