Select Board refers MBTA 3A zoning amendments to Planning Board after sunset provision added

The Wenham Select Board voted unanimously on March 18 to refer proposed zoning bylaw and zoning map amendments related to MBTA 3A compliance to the Planning Board for public hearing and recommendation.

Dan Pascarell, vice chair of the Planning Board, told the Select Board that the Planning Board had added a sunset provision to the proposed article during its recent hearing. Pascarell said the provision addresses uncertainty stemming from Supreme Judicial Court decisions and outstanding legal challenges: "What that language says is if you knock out the sunset provision you're basically knocking out the whole the whole bylaw," he said, explaining the planning board’s approach to ensuring the town does not need to reconvene town meeting for a repeal if state regulations change.

Town staff summarized the process: the Select Board initiates or refers zoning articles to the Planning Board, which conducts the public hearing, may recommend amendments and then returns a recommendation to the Select Board ahead of Town Meeting. Members confirmed that the Planning Board had also included severability language and that the public hearing was scheduled for April 16.

The board also approved a formal letter to Massachusetts Secretary of Housing and Livable Communities Edward M. Augustus Jr., requesting a status update on the economic impact report tied to GL c.40, §3A, which the board said will inform the town’s fiscal‑impact analysis before the special town meeting.

Vote: motion to refer the proposed zoning bylaw and map amendments to the Planning Board passed unanimously.