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Select board advances General Code review; committee to prioritize campground, parks and zoning changes
Summary
Select Board members and General Code’s representative reviewed a draft code update and agreed to prioritize campground and related land‑use sections for review; the board discussed splitting zoning performance standards from policing/licensing items to avoid extra contract costs and meet the April review timeline.
Select Board members reviewed the General Code draft of the town’s land‑use and related ordinances and agreed to prioritize a small set of ordinances—campground/RV regulations, parks, entertainment and licensing—so the most immediately relevant changes can be ready for town consideration in spring.
Chip Stevenson, introduced as CEO of General Code, described the vendor’s online review process (about 97 questions and a 134‑page draft) and said the firm will produce a web‑enabled code the town will own, with an optional maintenance contract for ongoing updates. "They've done an exemplary job," he said, describing the system for turning comments into revised code and noting a maintenance fee after delivery.
Board discussion focused on process: select‑board members urged a targeted review of ordinances the town specifically asked General Code to handle under the contract, leaving complex zoning and subdivision changes to the planning board or to the committee charged with them. Henry and others argued for a coordinated approach to avoid paying extra for incremental revisions. "I think we should have a comprehensive review of these few ordinances and then get it done so that the July town meeting can have those revised code sections presented as stand alone ordinances," Henry said.
Committee members said draft licensing/police‑power language is already prepared to pair with substantive performance standards placed in the zoning ordinance. The board discussed distributing a PDF of the questions and the draft code to members (with controls suggested for the editable questions) and scheduling working meetings to complete comments within the vendor's review window.
Why it matters: The General Code project is the vehicle for modernizing Wayne’s ordinances, resolving inconsistencies across subdivision, campground, zoning and other regulations, and preparing the town to present ordinance updates to voters. Prioritizing the campground and related sections responds to the moratorium process and aims to avoid further extensions.
Next steps: Board members will receive the draft PDF and schedule working sessions; planning‑board coordination and committee revisions will continue with the goal of having key ordinance language ready for public hearing and possible town‑meeting consideration.
