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Commission debates whether bylaw changes require voter approval or select-board action
Summary
The commission discussed whether amendments to town bylaws (previously adopted at town meeting) can be changed by the select board between town meetings or must be warned and voted by town voters; members agreed to seek written guidance from the town attorney and to place the question on a future warned agenda if necessary.
Commissioners discussed a Zoning Board of Adjustment request to revisit specific bylaw wording and disagreed about whether bylaw amendments must be put to town voters. One member described advice from the town attorney that bylaws can be adjusted and called them a "living document," while another stressed that when bylaws were adopted by voters they constitute law and would require a warned vote of the voters to amend.
"I do not believe that something that is voted on by the town voters at town meeting could be amended in between adoption by the voters by us or by the select board," one commission member said. Another member said the lawyer had advised the opposite and offered to bring written guidance to the planning commission for consideration at a warned meeting; members agreed to request that written advice and to pursue the appropriate procedure depending on the attorney's guidance.
