Charlestown schedules hearing on proposed battery-storage and data-center zoning rules

Charlestown has scheduled a public hearing for Aug. 11, 2026, on a proposed zoning amendment covering battery-energy-storage systems and data centers.

The Charlestown Town Council’s Ordinance No. 437 would amend Chapter 218 of the town’s zoning code. The hearing gives residents, property owners, developers and other interested parties a town-level opportunity to address proposed land-use rules before the ordinance’s final outcome is known.

What the proposal could affect

The proposed rules could help determine where large battery facilities and data centers may be built and the conditions that could apply to them. The potential effects reach beyond individual properties, including land use, traffic, safety, utilities and neighboring property owners.

That does not mean Ordinance No. 437 would ban or approve either type of facility. The available town notice identifies the subject of the amendment but does not state the final text of every proposed standard. It also does not identify a specific project, developer or facility capacity.

For Charlestown homeowners, renters, businesses and taxpayers, the immediate development is the opportunity to weigh in on the town’s proposed framework rather than a final decision on a particular battery-storage system or data center.

Hearing is the next known step

The public hearing is scheduled for Aug. 11. The available information does not establish whether the Town Council will vote on the ordinance that same night, so the hearing should not be treated as proof that the rules have been adopted.

The town’s official meeting calendar lists August 2026 meetings for the Zoning Board of Review and Planning Commission, showing that Charlestown’s land-use review bodies have an active municipal calendar during the period surrounding the hearing. The calendar does not, by itself, establish the outcome or timeline for Ordinance No. 437.

Recent zoning activity

Ordinance No. 437 follows another 2026 zoning amendment listed by the town. Ordinance No. 435 was adopted on May 11, 2026. That earlier action provides timing context for the town’s current zoning work, but the approved information does not describe Ordinance No. 435’s subject or establish that it produced the standards now proposed for battery-energy-storage systems and data centers.

Charlestown’s Charter and Ordinances page remains the town’s official listing for Ordinance No. 437 and its scheduled hearing. Until the hearing and any later action, the proposal’s final requirements and ultimate disposition remain unsettled.