The Richmond Town Council voted to approve a zoning text amendment that clears the way for industrial, commercial and residential development on a 246-acre parcel along Route 138, according to the ordinance discussed and adopted during the council's public hearing on the item.
What the rezoning does
The amendment applies only to the property in question, long known locally as the site once planned for a mixed-use development called Richmond Commons. It keeps the underlying village-center zoning's provisions for open space, recreation and clustered building design, but adds industrial uses on the portion of the parcel more than 700 feet from Route 138 — an area presented to the council as roughly 137 acres. Buildings could rise up to 60 feet and four stories under a dimensional variance included in the amendment. A minimum of 20 percent of the site, or roughly 49 to 50 acres, must remain open or recreational space.
William Buckley, vice president of development for GFI Partners, presented the proposal on behalf of the property owners. He told the council the company has already invested in the town and intends to be a long-term partner, and cited other industrial and mixed-use projects the firm has built in New England as examples of the type of development it envisions for the Richmond site. The proposal followed roughly 18 months of work with town staff and the planning board, which issued a favorable recommendation before the matter came to the council.
Affordable-housing requirement stripped out
Before final approval, the council amended the ordinance to remove a planning-board-recommended requirement that 10 percent of residential units on the site be deed-restricted as low- or moderate-income housing. One council member argued the mandate would make financing harder for the developer and would do little to move Richmond toward the state's 10 percent affordable-housing goal, since the town currently sits far below that target. The council instead restored a separate cap limiting residential units in the district to no more than two bedrooms, which members said would keep the housing smaller and more attainable even without deed restrictions. A resident who spoke during the hearing argued the site would still need affordable units to house lower-wage workers likely to fill jobs there. The amended ordinance, including the two-bedroom cap and the removal of the affordable-housing set-aside, was approved on a unanimous roll call vote.
Door-to-door sales registry approved
The council also gave final approval to changes to the town's ordinance on hawkers, peddlers and door-to-door salespeople. The new rules create a "no-knock" registry that residents can join to bar door-to-door solicitors from approaching their homes, while leaving political, religious and nonprofit canvassing unaffected. Fines for violations were increased, with proceeds directed to the town's recreation commission. Council members said the change followed months of debate aimed at balancing commercial free-speech rights with residents' privacy and safety concerns; a resident who spoke during the hearing said he considered the registry unnecessary and government overreach, arguing that existing no-soliciting signs already give residents that option.
Police staffing and a donation-bin problem
The council voted to make Officer Derek Adams a permanent member of the police department after he completed an extended 18-month probationary period; Police Chief Johnson recommended the hire and said Adams will move to a school resource officer role in the fall. Chief Johnson also reported that a clothing-donation bin on Route 138 has repeatedly attracted illegally dumped furniture, cardboard and other trash, forcing the public works department to clean it up. He asked residents to leave only clothing and shoes at donation bins and warned that dumped items create a magnet effect and can draw rodents.
Transfer station costs with Hopkinton in dispute
Council members debated the financial arrangement under which the Town of Hopkinton uses Richmond's transfer station. Town staff said Hopkinton has paid a flat $75,000 annual fee since 2022 even as its share of the station's use has grown to roughly half of all traffic, while Richmond has covered capital improvements on its own. The council had sought $150,000 from Hopkinton; Hopkinton's town administrator has countered with an offer of $100,000. One council member argued Richmond taxpayers are effectively subsidizing Hopkinton and said Hopkinton should build its own facility if it won't pay a larger share. The council voted to ask Hopkinton to send its full council, not just its administrator, to a joint meeting on the issue, and to place the matter back on Richmond's agenda for its August 17 meeting whether or not Hopkinton responds.
Townwide property revaluation explained
A representative from the town's contracted property-assessment firm walked the council through this year's statistical property revaluation, which relied on roughly 300 inspections of properties that sold or had open building permits in 2025. He said land and building values are set entirely by recent local sales, not by any predetermined formula, and that the review divided town properties into four "neighborhoods" based on similarity of housing stock and land value rather than strict geography. Only 78 property owners requested hearings to challenge their new assessments, a lower rate than in past cycles; about a third of those hearings resulted in a change. Several council members and residents raised concerns that small numbers of sales in some neighborhoods, sometimes as few as five, may be driving outsized swings in other owners' assessments. The council voted to ask the town assessor to digitize the assessment methodology manual and post it on the town's website.
Other business
The council authorized the town clerk to apply for state election-security grant funding, which could pay for police details at polling locations and new locks for council chambers, ahead of a July 31 application deadline. Members also agreed to move the September 1 council meeting to a 7 p.m. start because of scheduling conflicts with early in-person voting in chambers, pending confirmation from council members not present. A part-time custodian position was approved with an $22-per-hour rate and a proposed July 27 start date, and a resident was reappointed to the town's Emergency Management Agency. A local builder's request to acquire the town's tax interest in a small residential lot was set aside after members raised concerns the property sits in a flood-hazard area; the town solicitor will research whether the council has legal authority to transfer tax titles before the matter returns to a future meeting.
Residents can find the full agenda packet and ordinance text through the town clerk's office, and public comment on future zoning and ordinance matters can be submitted in writing for the record.