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Planning board reviews four proposed zoning articles, debates duplex policy and mixed‑use overlay expansion
Summary
Staff presented four zoning articles proposed for the Oct. 26 Town Meeting warrant (technical corrections, semi‑detached/two‑family by special permit, nonconforming provisions, and expansion of the mixed residential‑commercial overlay). Board members debated Article 2 (duplexes) and urged clearer standards and caution about timing relative to potential state legislation.
The planning board opened a public hearing on four proposed zoning warrant articles the town would consider at the Oct. 26 Town Meeting. Staff summarized the articles as: (1) technical corrections throughout the zoning bylaw; (2) allow semi‑detached and two‑family dwellings by special permit in residential districts (R‑AA, R‑A, R‑B, R‑C); (3) revise nonconforming structure/use/lot language (including insertion of Affordable Homes Act language and removal of items that currently treat variances as special permits); and (4) expand the Mixed Residential and Commercial Overlay to overlay all B‑1, B‑2 and BR districts (which would remove the need for a map that currently restricts eligible locations).
Board members focused intense discussion on Article 2, which would change the use table to allow duplexes/semi‑detached/2‑family dwellings by special permit rather than by right. Several members urged that if the board forwards the article for a public hearing it should include clear standards to preserve neighborhood character and address infrastructure and cost burdens. One member noted pending state legislation could allow duplexes by right in single‑family districts, which would make a local special‑permit approach either redundant or inconsistent; another urged separating the policy debate from immediate scheduling if standards had not been developed.
Planning staff said some technical corrections and Affordable Homes Act language are required to align with state law and to correct referencing errors in the existing bylaw. The board agreed to continue the public hearing on the zoning articles to Aug. 11 to allow time for additional information and public input; the design‑guidelines discussion for the mixed residential and commercial overlay was continued to Aug. 25.
