Ordinance Review Committee elects chair, secures $15,000 grant to overhaul zoning, shoreland and subdivision rules

Michelle Felicetti was elected chair of the newly formed Ordinance Review Committee and told members she will circulate the committee’s previous bylaws and mission statement for review before the next meeting.

Town Manager Lindsay Gani briefed the committee on a recently awarded $15,000 grant to hire SMPDC to audit the town’s ordinances and draft revisions focused on zoning, shoreland and subdivision rules. "We did get a grant for $15,000 to help us cover for expenses to pay for a professional to actually draft and, you know, professionally go through our ordinances," Gani said, adding SMPDC had already completed an audit that flagged inconsistencies.

Why it matters: the work responds to recent state law changes affecting housing and related ordinances. Gani said the grant application included SMPDC’s quote and funding for legal review, and that the town attorney will be able to review drafts in sections to keep work moving.

The committee reviewed a schedule of milestones. The primary drafting window is scheduled for July 1, 2026, through March 31, 2027; attorney review will occur in sections April 1–July 1 to permit parallel processing. Gani told the committee the grant’s goal expects a final draft ready by July 2027 but acknowledged the town’s charter timing may delay adoption until November 2028. "As long as you have a final draft ready by July 27, we're good," she said, noting the state and the grantor understood the town’s election-related constraints.

Gani outlined public participation requirements under the charter and said the committee will need to solicit input through workshops, surveys or other outreach. She reminded members that ordinance-related public hearings must be scheduled within a window that falls 180 to 10 days before the election. A committee member noted petition rules and signature minimums: "The signatures are 75," the member said; Gani recommended collecting more than the minimum and proposed a deadline to submit petitions to the Select Board by June 28 to allow clerk verification ahead of a November town meeting.

On scope, SMPDC will focus on the three primary ordinance areas tied to recent housing-law changes — zoning, shoreland and subdivision — rather than all town ordinances. Subdivision regulations will remain a separate document but will be revised as part of the same grant process because of policy overlap, Gani said.

Logistics discussed included appointing Jesse Skrovsky (codes/assessing) as the staff liaison to centralize department feedback; distributing current ordinance PDFs to members; and continuing existing Zoom participation rules. The committee also discussed survey-response quality and plans to use a survey tool that prevents repeat submissions by IP address to improve data integrity.

The meeting concluded after the committee approved a vice chair and adjourned. Gani said she expects SMPDC to begin work around July and will keep the committee updated by email; the next in-person meeting will be scheduled once SMPDC sets its first review date.