Zoning Bylaws Study Committee moves to clarify its charge and formalize planning‑board liaison

The Zoning Bylaws Study Committee began a line‑by‑line review of its 2019 charge on Monday, agreeing the document is vague in places and needs updating to improve communication with other town bodies and to reflect current practice. The chair said the draft is intended to clarify the committee’s purpose and reporting path so its work advances more smoothly.

Committee members emphasized the importance of opening or formalizing lines of communication with the planning board and the select board. One member proposed that the committee be able to report differences to the select board when an article is headed for adoption, rather than waiting for a biannual summary. The chair said the aim is to make the charge "clearer, more streamlined, and more conducive to allowing the process to unfold in a more effective way." (Chair)

Members discussed creating a nonvoting liaison appointed by the planning board, keeping one representative from the Zoning Board of Appeals, and preserving seven at‑large seats with an explicit goal to seek geographic and sector diversity. "I think there should be something… a liaison position created to this committee," the chair said, proposing the liaison sit outside the committee’s seven voting seats so those seats remain available for at‑large members.

The committee also agreed to remove obsolete "initial terms" language tied to its original formation and to include a goal of recruiting members from different villages and sectors, such as business, construction and environmental fields. Members warned against prescribing too many specifics in the charge that could make it difficult to recruit volunteers. One member suggested using the word "liaison" and clarifying that liaisons would typically be nonvoting.

The chair said the edits will be compiled into a second draft for the committee to review at the next meeting before being sent to the select board for approval. "This conversation tonight is to get the ball rolling," the chair said. The committee asked staff to circulate an editable draft and to check whether town rules require alternates to serve one‑year terms.

Next steps: committee members will receive the revised draft and prepare suggested edits for the next meeting; the committee plans to present its recommended charge to the select board for final action.