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Braintree Planning Commission opens public hearing on draft zoning bylaws; schedules special meeting
Summary
The Braintree Planning Commission opened a public hearing on proposed zoning bylaw updates, heard two hours of public comment on housing, lot sizes, flood rules and waivers, amended scenic-resource language to apply across districts, and set a special meeting for Oct. 2 to continue revisions.
Nathan Cleveland, chair of the Braintree Planning Commission, opened the Sept. 16 public hearing on the town’s draft zoning bylaws and explained the night’s process for taking public comment: the commission would hear remarks, take them under advisement and not debate during the public-comment period. "We will be looking to, take comments through the public hearing process," Cleveland said at the meeting’s start.
Consultant Kyle Katz of the 2 Rivers Regional Commission summarized the rewrite, which began in 2023 and aims to simplify procedures while encouraging housing through provisions for accessory dwelling units, adaptive reuse and a new neighborhood-residential district. The commission received extensive public comment about lot-area requirements, flood regulations, waiver authority for the Development Review Board (DRB), the practical feasibility of 0.5-acre lots without public water or wastewater, and energy-code impacts on construction costs.
Public commenters asked how input from a January forum had been incorporated; the commission said submitted comments were tracked in a spreadsheet and in a "parking lot" of items worked on across monthly sessions. Online participant Jesse Broussard told the commission that requiring a costly property survey before subdivision is risky for property owners and repeated skepticism about 0.5-acre lots, saying "surveys these days are no longer $2,000" and that well and septic constraints make half-acre subdivision difficult.
After closing the public-comment period by motion and voice vote (recorded in the meeting as passing 3–1), the commission voted to change section 6.5(e)(a) so scenic-resource consideration reads, "development shall be located and configured to avoid undue adverse impacts to the scenic character of the area," removing language that limited that test to a single district. Commissioners also set a special meeting for Oct. 2 to continue reviewing consolidated comments and draft edits before considering whether to transmit the draft to the Select Board. The commission adjourned following the scheduled business.
