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Ashland Planning Board weighs bylaws recodification, outlines process for a Design Review Committee
Summary
Board members agreed to pursue recodification of the Planning Board Bylaws to improve cohesion without changing verbiage and discussed implementing a Design Review Committee; a board member suggested using AI for language cleanup, but staff advised external expertise is preferable.
The Ashland Planning Board discussed administrative changes to its bylaws and the steps to implement a Design Review Committee during its May 28 meeting.
Planning Director Jasmin Farinacci described a proposed recodification intended to make the Bylaws more cohesive and easier to read; she emphasized that the effort would not change substantive verbiage. Board members said outside expertise and a working committee could help produce a clearer document. Member Anna Tesmenitsky said she would support a language-only cleanup and suggested using AI tools such as ChatGPT or Claude to assist; Farinacci responded that recodification is a specialized task and can take months, implying a preference for outside legal or technical expertise. The Board agreed to defer detailed work and revisit the topic at a future meeting.
On the Design Review Committee, Member Tricia Kendall proposed drafting a description of the committee’s structure and circulating it to local design professionals through the Town Manager’s newsletter and posting the notice on the Town website; Ms. Farinacci said she will send the Design Review Committee information to the Town Clerk for posting. Members emphasized that the process should be public.
These items were placed on the Board’s task list for further development; no formal votes or funding decisions were recorded in the transcript for either item.
