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Millis zoning bylaw review committee submits revisions to sections 1–4, recommends removing village business district and clarifying definitions; committee re‑r
Summary
The Town of Millis zoning bylaw review committee reported to the Planning Board on July 8 that it has drafted revisions to sections 1–4 of the bylaw, recommended removing a village business district that applies to no parcels, and clarified multiple definitions including removing the term “family.”
Members of the Town of Millis zoning bylaw review committee told the Planning Board on July 8 that they have completed draft revisions to sections 1 through 4 of the zoning bylaw and plan to submit section 5 for review in coming months.
The committee explained it removed the aged definition of "family" and replaced occupancy phrasing with a clearer definition of "dwelling unit," clarified confusing floor-area-ratio examples, reorganized certain definitions for alphabetical flow (for example consolidating car-wash definitions), and added statutory citations where definitions derive from state code or building code. The committee recommended removing the separate village business zoning district from the bylaw because it currently applies to no parcels and suggested extending the mixed-use/MC EOD overlay where appropriate instead.
Committee members noted some comments came from multiple volunteer-authored bylaws with inconsistent formatting and language over decades. The committee asked the Planning Board to ask the select board to consider funding to convert the zoning bylaw to a searchable, hosted digital format to make future edits and public searching easier; the board directed committee leadership and staff to secure a price and present it to the select board.
The Planning Board voted to reappoint the current review committee members for another year; the board listed Nicole, Jim McKay, Mike Giampitro, Kaz Perikovsky, Dave Baker, Ellen Rosenfeld, Tom Roche and Wayne Carlson as members. Staff said recorded meetings are being saved for public reference.
Committee members said they hope to have section 5 ready for the board's September meeting, which would allow the board to refer changes to the select board for a public hearing in October in time for fall town-meeting consideration, but the committee cautioned the full bylaw rewrite will take multiple cycles and that attorney-general review of earlier articles may affect the final book that reaches town meeting.
