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Planning board opens debate on zoning changes to attract responsible economic development, including hotels
Summary
Members discussed whether to relax room limits to encourage hotels on underutilized parcels, debated design protections and special-permit options, and agreed to further study occupancy data and bylaw language.
The planning board opened a broad discussion about zoning changes to encourage responsible economic development, with several members focusing on whether hotel room limits should be changed to make small hotels financially viable.
Board member (speaker 5) argued the current 4–5 room limit makes hotels economically infeasible and recommended allowing hotels in appropriate zones with special-permit safeguards. Another member recalled the original 45-room threshold intended to discourage chain hotels and preserve small-scale hospitality.
Members proposed collecting occupancy and market data from local hoteliers before committing to bylaw changes and suggested any change could be paired with design guidelines or special-permit conditions to protect downtown character. The board did not vote on code changes but agreed to keep the topic on its work plan for future review and to coordinate with related master-plan work.
