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Select board votes to remove routine select-board sign-off from building permits; change goes to voters
Summary
The select board voted to remove routine select-board signature requirements from two building permit ordinance provisions and directed the planning board to draft ballot/town-meeting language; the change would delegate routine permit sign-off to the building inspector while retaining select-board review for unusual or nonconforming cases.
Brentwood's select board voted to strip routine signature requirements for certain building permits and leave authority for standard permits with the building inspector, sending the proposed ordinance language to the planning board for placement on the ballot or town meeting roster.
Chair introduced amendments to sections that previously required the board of selectmen to sign permits in triplicate (cited in the meeting as 900.0050.001 and 900.0020.001). The proposed revision removes the requirement for select-board signature on routine permit approvals and designates the building inspector (or the inspector's designee) to authorize those permits. The board confirmed it would retain authority for unusual actions—amendments, alterations to nonconforming structures, or cases involving hazards—so that the select board would still review those exceptional matters.
Members discussed safeguards if Brentwood temporarily lacks a building inspector and whether the change requires a ballot vote or a town-meeting article. The chair and several members said the planning board should draft the exact ordinance language and that placement on the ballot/town meeting would be required for the amendment to take effect.
What's next: Planning will prepare the formal wording for the ordinance change and staff will advise on ballot and town-meeting procedures; the board's vote to remove the routine signature requirement is the start of that process rather than the final enactment.
Board statement: "There's a lot of due diligence that the building inspector performs," a board member said in support of delegating routine sign-offs to an inspector with technical knowledge of codes and setbacks.
