Gardner residents working to stop horse racing track before it gets to start line

GARDNER - There is growing tension in Gardner over the potential for a horse racing track developer to move into town, but city leaders warn a decision is nowhere close to being made. 

On Tuesday, the city's planning board held a meeting on multiple items the city council had sent their way for recommendation. One of them dealt with potentially changing 180 acres of land off Route 140 from rural residential to commercial zoning. Another item wanted the board to review the potential of adding "sports betting" to its zoning option. 

The planning board punted each of the items to their next meeting on September 19th, citing a lack of information from city council and concerns over "spot zoning." That's when one plot of land is zoned in a way that does not match its surroundings. 

"I am thinking we need clarification from the city law department on a couple of items," said planning board chairman Mark Schafron during Tuesday's meeting. 

It was in a city council meeting on August 7th, when one city councilor said that a horse racing track developer was just one of several interested parties in utilizing the land, if it ends up being zoned for commercial use. WBZ-TV spoke with multiple councilmembers by phone on Tuesday who said they are interested in bringing business to the area but are nowhere close to determining what that might look like. 

Many residents at Tuesday's meeting said they had issues with that land being rezoned, no matter the potential developer that might move in. Traffic backup, infrastructure, and environmental concerns were main themes from residents who showed up. 

The planning board will make a recommendation to the city council, but it is up to the council to vote on whether to rezone or not. Those councilmembers who spoke with WBZ-TV said that decision is likely months away.  

Brandon Truitt joined WBZ-TV in January 2022 after working as a reporter and fill-in anchor at WPRI in Providence, Rhode Island. Before WPRI, Truitt worked at WNCT in Greenville, North Carolina, where he began his career in broadcast journalism.