Select Board orders clerk to prepare November warrant questions on housing and land‑use amendments

The Rockport Select Board voted to order the town clerk to prepare intent-language for November ballot questions tied to a suite of land-use and subdivision-ordinance amendments designed to encourage workforce housing. The board reviewed a manager memo outlining three broad items: land-use amendments tied to the comprehensive plan, subdivision-ordinance cleanups, and consideration of municipal road-acceptance language.

Planning Board Chair Jeff Leclair (speaker 13) summarized recent workshops that informed the proposals: changes to dimensional rules such as building height and setbacks, and a shift in parking policy language from a strict "minimum" to a "recommended minimum" to give developers and planners more flexibility. As Leclair said, "We're just recommending an adjustment of changing the word, minimum to, recommended minimum." The board emphasized that voters will see final ballot language at the September meeting, and that the current vote only asks clerks to prepare the necessary materials in time for the election process.

Board members flagged the need for clearer fiscal and implementation detail where appropriate and requested staff provide full proposed ordinance text and fiscal impact analyses in the September packet. The motion ordering the clerk to prepare questions passed unanimously.