Shrewsbury ZBA Denies Food Truck Variance for Trinity Episcopal Church on Main Street

SHREWSBURY -- May 14, 2026, Shrewsbury ZBA denies food truck variance for Trinity Episcopal Church on Main Street by a three-to-two vote. The Zoning Board of Appeals rejected a request by event organizer Teresa Goulet for a variance from Section 6, Table 1 of the Shrewsbury Zoning Bylaw that would have allowed up to three food trucks to operate Wednesday evenings in the church's Residence A-zoned parking lot at 440 Main Street. Attorney John Tyndall, representing Trinity Episcopal Church and the Diocese of Western Massachusetts, told the board the arrangement would have generated roughly $5,000 to $6,000 per season for the church, with each truck paying $50 per week. The board was broadly sympathetic to a revised site plan, which cut the truck count from six to three, added one-way traffic signage, and included a volunteer parking attendant, but a majority concluded the application could not satisfy the land-based hardship standard required for a use variance under MGL Chapter 40A. Sixteen neighboring households had submitted a letter in opposition, and public commenter Jim Cayola of 443 Main Street handed the board five case law citations he said documented similar statutory violations by other towns. One board member recommended the town amend its bylaws to create a special permit pathway for such uses, calling denial "not necessarily the end" for the concept.