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North Brookfield removes planning-board special-permit requirement for accessory dwelling units
Summary
Voters at a special Town Meeting approved amendments to the Town of North Brookfield zoning bylaws to remove a planning-board special-permit requirement for accessory dwelling units, aligning the bylaw with recently passed state law.
Voters at the Town of North Brookfield’s special town meeting approved amendments removing the requirement that an accessory dwelling unit (ADU) obtain a special permit from the planning board. The measure, filed as Article 27 and followed by a related amendment as Article 28, passed by the two-thirds majority required for zoning changes.
The amendments alter the Town of North Brookfield zoning bylaws by deleting the phrase that required an ADU to be installed only “with a special permit from the planning board.” Bill King, speaking for the planning board, said the change is intended to bring the town’s rules into compliance with state law: “we are trying to begin compliance with state law, and so we are a little bit over restrictive. And so now we are just amending it to make it comply with the state.”
The articles were presented after a planning-board public hearing on March 16, which King said had two members of the public in attendance and general support. Article 27 amended the definition of accessory dwelling unit in Section 2(a) of the zoning bylaws to remove the special-permit language; Article 28 amended Section 4.a.2.t to delete the same restrictions and to renumber subsections as needed. Both articles required and received two-thirds votes from those present.
No motions to refer the amendments to a different body or to hold them for future review were made on the floor. The moderator read the warrant language into the record and then called for the required supermajority votes; the measures passed by raised hands. The planning board will incorporate the deletions and the renumbering into the town bylaws following the meeting.
Because the changes remove a locally imposed permitting step, affected homeowners who wish to construct or convert units to ADUs will no longer need a planning-board special permit where the deleted language had previously required one. The amendments are procedural and intended to conform local zoning to state ADU requirements; the planning board said remaining ADU standards in the bylaw (such as size and location criteria in Section 4.a.2.t) continue to apply.
Article 28 also included editorial changes to renumber subsections; those changes were approved along with the deletion of the special-permit phrase. The bylaws will be updated to reflect the approved language.
