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Planning Board proposes zoning‑ordinance review; members debate setbacks and enforcement
Summary
Staff proposed a line‑by‑line zoning‑ordinance review and a possible joint workshop with the Zoning Board of Adjustment to address recurring issues (setbacks, enforcement, tax‑card discrepancies). Members debated whether to hold an open public workshop or a fact‑finding session and asked staff to confer with the ZBA before returning recommendations in September.
Staff (speaker 5) told the board that recurring zoning items — particularly setbacks that frequently produce variance requests — merit a scheduled, line‑by‑line review. Staff proposed a joint planning‑board/ZBA workshop to discuss which ordinances are causing repeated enforcement or variance issues and to bring forward practical recommendations; the workshop would be a public meeting but run as a working session without public comment, followed by formal public hearings if ordinance changes are proposed.
Board members discussed tradeoffs: some favored a public workshop to foster coordination and education, while others cautioned that the meeting could become contentious when variances and neighborhood expectations arise. Members singled out setbacks and the discrepancy between tax‑card designations and zoning as tangible issues to investigate. The board asked staff to consult the ZBA, gather examples and return with a focused agenda for a September fact‑finding or workshop session.
