okay seeing that it's uh 7:00 I'll open up the uh the meeting of the town of Halifax Planning Board uh taking place at 499 Plymouth Street in Halifax Um today's date is uh Thursday April
17th 2025 The meeting started at uh the 700 p.m here in the great hall at the town hall in Halifax Uh the planning board meeting just so that everyone knows uh is being recorded by Area 58 and can be reviewed on uh
YouTube Okay I'll uh accept a motion to uh accept the uh agenda for tonight's meeting as presented Do we have a motion so move and a second Second I have a motion and a second to accept the uh agenda as presented All those in favor
say I I I Uh unanimous Uh uh tonight at tonight's meeting we have uh uh Rick Mary Tom Millius myself Bert Gainner uh Amy Troop and uh Mr Elliott is absent for this
evening Okay Uh let's uh start off with our uh uh public hearing that's scheduled for uh 7:00 Uh we're going to be uh reviewing the proposed zoning bylaw amendments that uh will come before the annual town meeting and uh
I'll ask uh Mr Bruno do you want me to open the hearing that's a good idea Yes I'll move to open the hearing for public hearing I motion to open the notice of public hearing for the Halifax Planning Board will which will hold a public hearing on Thursday April 17th 2025 at 7
p.m in the Great Hall at Halifax Town Hall 499 Plymouth Street Halifax Massachusetts 02338 to review zoning bylaw amendments for town meeting The text comprising the proposed zoning bylaw amendments may be
inspected at the office of the town clerk Halifax Town Hall 499 Plymouth Street Halifax Massachusetts 02338 Okay I have a motion on the floor to open the public hearing Do I have a second second I'll ask for a voice vote
to open the public hearing Rick yes Uh Tom yes Myself yes Amy yes Unanimous Okay Here's John Uh so John Bruno uh I am uh the chairman of the zoning bylaw review committee uh and a uh member of the board of selectmen I'm
just going to give a brief introduction uh and then uh what we will we have a another brief relatively brief PowerPoint that uh the town administrator has put together that will highlight for uh the public and for you the changes to the bylaw that we're
proposing Uh we also have with us tonight uh attorney Rick Hux who is town council who was uh intimately involved in in helping us uh come up to where we are right now So for anyone who thinks that this is something that's coming out of the blue uh a little history is
important The uh original zoning bylaw review committee was started in 2013 Um and it's been in existence ever since then It's had a couple of changes to the uh membership over the course of time It's had various members uh have been on
it and off it over the course of time In um 2023 in the in the winter of 2023 the board of selectmen uh was looking into this uh committee to see where it was what was happening And what what we were told was really nothing had happened uh
that there was uh difficulty getting a quorum because of the requirements of various uh departments that were on the committee and again this is a committee uh created by the board of selectment anyway so we could do what we wanted with it In any event the uh board at
that time uh in July of 2023 reconstituted it made it much smaller uh and uh made it uh uh five voting members uh including just one from the board of selectmen just to act as chairman to keep the process moving and also uh
having as non- voting members the building inspector uh the uh town administrator and uh legal counsel And the idea being that we would have no excuse for not putting resources into this to make sure that we could actually accomplish something Obviously this is
an important uh issue Uh I mean it's been on the table now for 12 years Uh and I think that the uh the town would be better served if we could just get past this And so the the zoning bylaw has been reviewed in detail from start
to finish Uh and we've made some changes to it Uh a lot of those changes are having to do with kind of reorganizing it alphabetizing some of the definitions and the min relatively minor type changes like that There are four uh different changes that Cody Cody's going
to go over with the PowerPoint so that you get a good feel for it Um and that's where it stands So it's our hope that uh we can bring the uh town's zoning bylaws into uh up to standards whatever the standards are at the time you you'll hear that there have been some changes
to the law that have to be incorporated into our zoning bylaw and that's part of this uh and uh that the idea was to make the zoning bylaw a little bit easier for people to work with So with that said uh I'll uh turn it over to Cody to give you
folks explanation as to what the changes are John I just have a a quick question I know if it goes before the uh annual town meeting maybe I'm I'm going that that's too soon Not quite yet but you know of course it it has to go through the attorney general's office the Secretary of State once it get passes
and whatnot Are uh I guess maybe it's a question for Rich Are we legally language-wise uh up to snuff and everything okay as it's presented to us now well as far Well it hasn't it hasn't been to the attorney general Yeah we we have not
asked them for any consultation which I don't think they would give us anyway Uh but we we have been careful as we've gone along over the last year and a half almost two years now in trying to uh put into the zoning bylaw any changes that we think that the the state
requires You'll hear about ADUs for example um those uh small dwelling houses type things which are now a state law and now are incorporated in the bylaw So that type of thing is there We are convinced that it's perfectly uh legal Everything's in order Um but again
that's and Mr Huxton feels comfortable with and Mr Hawk can give you some detail on that Yes I mean that was really part of the purpose of the endeavor That was really part of of the purpose of the whole endeavor was to do that you know to make sure everything was
complied with with um state law uh and and was up to snuff as you say right because I did notice on several of the different items and articles that were in there changes it does refer to to comply with the new state law date section and whatnot So right at least we
got a we got a handle on it right and as John mentioned probably the the um prime example of that is the accessory dwelling unit aspect of it which is um required you know because of the a change in state law Great Thank you sir
You're welcome I have a question I was wondering in 2013 or 12 when this committee was um or yeah the bylaw committee review committee was put together was it a vote at town meeting
to create that can we have that reviewed because this is just a committee set up by the board of selectment in 2013 uh as an advisory committee to the board of selectment So you'll notice that the proposed zoning bylaw changes are uh um proposed by the
board of selectman That's that's where it comes from The zoning bylaw committee is just advisory That's all I mean we have everything was done in uh following open meeting laws Everything's been recorded There's been minutes The whole deal has been followed correctly Uh but it's You recorded the meetings were they
put put on Area 58 sir uh it was recorded I don't know if it was live streamed I don't know about that No no you don't know I don't know Okay It should have been on area 58 cuz a lot of us in town would have liked to have seen it Uh it's available any the meetings we
they're open meetings The agenda is posted We have had people come uh that have come to the meetings a couple of times because they were interested in things we were talking about So it's uh it's a public meeting But again uh the purpose of the zoning bylaw committee
was to do the the groundwork and then to make a proposal and then board selectment would would be the ones that are proposing the uh changes Right And didn't you make it so that um meetings were happening before work got out and one of the five members couldn't make it to a lot of the meetings due to that say
that again What one of your members could no longer make it to the meeting due to the fact that you kept planning them before the 5:00 pm time that he could make it I don't know what you're talking about Okay All right Why don't we uh move on if you wouldn't uh uh Cody if you would
please Thank you Let's see So uh as John and Rich already mentioned you know really scope of these revisions are to ensure zoning is compliant with Massachusetts general law and any recent case law Uh to create clarity in the
reading and understanding of the zoning bylaw We've heard from uh several members of the community that our bylaw is challenging to read for the average person So we wanted to make it so a resident or a potential business coming in um can look at our bylaw and hopefully understand it a little bit
more Um and then really remove areas of contradiction throughout the bylaw maintain consistency and then um just one thing to really that's important to stress here is there are no changes of the underlying zoning or the zoning map in any of these proposals Um it's really
I'll go over the changes of substance Beyond that it's grammatical It's cleaning things up clarifying things um definitions things like that So uh those notable revisions the first one is in
1677D subsection 11 Um this would allow mixed mixed commercial and residential uses in the B commercial and business district by special permit of the zoning board of appeals So right now mixeduse development is not allowed Um so this would allow it by a special permit of
the by the ZBA uh 16713 Um this simplifies our exterior signs section Uh there was in the current bylaw there's a subsection that allows for signs to be increased by 25%
for every 100 ft of setback off the road So um in our conversation with the building commissioner this came up because Walmart for instance that set off the road several hundred feet could have a sign that was like a th00and square feet or was something If I recall
John and Rich it it was it was massive Um so it really clarified that language because they're set two different parameters in the current bylaw Um so remove that 100 foot setback by you know 25% there and 16719 This is Can I ask a
question was there any other even little small changes within the sign bylaw uh yeah I mean there's changes throughout the bylaw to several things such as grammatical wording but the change of substance in the bylaw that actually changes regulation is just the 20 the
removal of that 25% uh for every 100 ft off the road Thank you for the clarification You're welcome Um 16719 This is a totally new section Um this is a blighted properties The intent of this is to protect and preserve public safety
security and quiet enjoyment of occupants of butters and neighborhoods Um it requires all residential commercial and industrial property owners to properly maintain any sort of blighted or foreclosing properties And it regulates the maintenance of blighted and/or foreclosing residential commercial industrial properties to
prevent blighted and unsecured properties Uh 16720 this is the site plan review requirements I assume this will be particularly of interest to the planning board um considering you know you oversee the site plan review process Within that um there were some
improvements to create efficiencies in the review process I'm going to get more into depth into that uh further on in the presentation And then as attorney Hux had mentioned um the accessory dwelling unit section which was really a requirement to comply with the current state law um that was effective in
February So even if the town chooses not to update that section of by our bylaw we it's happening now anyways So it's going to continue to happen um outside of our bylaw if we even if this is not updated So site plan review um in July
of 2024 of last year the executive office of housing and livable communities uh notified the town that our current um site plan review bylaw really should be looked at by town council They had some concerns Their exact language is that we should consult with town council to ensure that our
that this section aligns with existing case law concerning plan reviews for as of use rights This is classic the state right not very clear in what their concerns are but just telling us maybe you should look at it So obviously that prompted a review uh by town council and
uh the zoning by review committee Um with that there was this revised section that is being presented and it really it's a positive um attribute for the planning board and for the um project or anyone applying for or going through
site plan review Ultimately it sets up um different levels of a project right because if you have a smaller project the idea is not necessarily a big commercial project it doesn't necessarily need to go through the same highlevel review as if you're having a
huge project come into town So it sets up um main major or minor projects Uh minor projects would be any new building or construction containing a,000 gross square feet of floor area up to but not including 2,000 square ft Um expansion of an existing building result uh
resulting in an increase of floor area of 1,000 square ft not uh but not beyond 2,000 construction or expansion of parking area resulting in three to five new parking spaces uh and any changes to loading areas dumpsters uh exterior lighting major landscaping features or
accessory structures So that that falls under that minor uh project review And then under major project ultimately is everything everything else So anything beyond 2,000 square ft um whether it's a new construction or an expansion of an existing building uh construction
expansion alteration of parking areas in six or more uh parking spots Grading regrading of land development over an area of 5,000 square ft um or more Um development of 7,500 ft or more of imperous surface or more than 15% of the
law area So really everything else that would be kind of a larger project would go through that higher level review Uh and then the the other like I mentioned accessory dwelling units really bringing us into compliance with state law Um we didn't go any further
than the requirements of the state law but it would allow these accessory dwelling units as of right in uh AR and B zoning districts and would be allowed by a special permit in the Cz zoning district Um maximum of one accessory dwelling unit per lot Cannot be larger
than half the gross floor area of the principal dwelling or 900 ft whichever is smaller um can have no more than two bedrooms Tom uh I had a question Sure When you said maximum of one ADU per lot didn't the state also allow for more than one with a special permit from the
zoning board of appeals or did I misread that um not that I'm advocating for it but I I just wanted to um that that it's not part of the the required part of the um the change in
state law Okay Um it's it's just at least one um uh in per per lot in residential zoning districts of the size that that uh Cody mentioned Yeah Okay Is
that particular to to every town i'm sorry You don't Is that partic like if what Tron was talking about if there were two that would be a change that say a town could do on their own yes if they wanted to but to to meet the state
requirement it's it's got to be at least a one right a town could do more could be more lenient regarding them but they have to be at least what the um state law requires I I may have misread it It it may say that the town can adopt it if
they so choose with special permit from the ZBA So yes thank you You're welcome Um it it's important to note that all of these accessory dwelling units they you know in the bylaw they still have to comply with all of their requirements uh such as on-site water septic disposal
etc Uh single family residents with an ADU must comply with fire separation regulations uh for two family dwellings And again setback and dimensional requirements still must be met for these ADUs We're not changing any of that Um so like I said no in the all of these
revisions there's nothing that changes any underlying zoning no dimensional standards Um it really is beyond these changes that I mentioned Um cleaning up alpha no lot size requiring them No changes
Correct And like I said those are the changes of substance If if you look through the bylaw everything else um is very similar to what was there before with like I said exceptions of you know rewarding um definitions right we we had a long discussion in the zoning by
review committee of uh basement versus seller There were two definitions in the bylaw of basement versus seller and they were referred to in different areas of the bylaw Um really meant the same exact thing but again one of those things where it's inconsistent So if you're
reading it you're saying what is one does one mean one thing and one mean the other but they were used in the same fashion throughout So those are the types of um cleanup that occurred throughout the bylaw Yeah that's what you know like John myself and Rich are here If you have any questions we can certainly
answer them Were you left what about the site plan review and whatnot is is that all I mean we got a couple more pages where were there changes done to the site plan review yes Yeah So I just went through the site plan review um that was
that section was revised to create the two the two project basically types to two tiers of projects the main major versus minor um and setting thresholds to you know what constitutes a minor project what constitutes a major project
Um this was a section that was used from another community uh similar size of Halifax and again in in attorney Huxom's review um should be compliant with with the law and address the whatever the concerns with the state were We don't
know exactly what they were because they just said that you should look at it They felt it was inconsistent with current case law So it did need some update Cody what was the other town thank you Uh it was is it Newberry newberry Newberry port Newberry port It was either New I think it was just
Newberry Newberry rich Yeah just Newberry not Newberry Port Okay I'll ask uh the members of the board Anybody have any questions that uh like to bring forward
i think it was pretty cut and dry I was looking for glitches but and and it's long overdue to clarify some of this stuff I mean having tried to read it myself for 23 years it wasn't exactly the easiest thing to do And
everybody there's always going to be various uh interpretations of any bylaw but the closer you can zero it in the the less aggravating it is for everybody I I think it's it's a great effort to try to clean this stuff up
Rick did you send no I'm almost set up You have anything no You don't have any no that I actually had a couple brought up you know that I brought up before I I know back a 100 years ago when I uh first got on the uh on the zoning board
was in the 80s We had tried to update them and with the old col old old colony planning council Uh we were going over to Brockton once in a while and again that was seat by hands type thing You you try to get a little bit of the other towns and we probably created some of
the problems that Tom was uh referring to but made the effort anyway to try to bring it up to date Yeah No and I think you weren't necessarily problems Generally speaking we have a we have a pretty good zoning bylaw And that's why there aren't really changes of substance
in the in the bylaw but it is incredibly difficult for to to read and understand particularly where it's contradicting in some spots Um and it you know do you have definitions that are going against each other So the zoning itself that's that's why there's really not a lot of
changes of substance that recommended by the committee but really just trying to make it so you know the the community we want the community to be able to understand this and you know um the staff too right a building commissioner zoning enforcement officer it's important that they're able to understand and and understand where to
enforce these things um and so like like Mr Millia said it's not well this is my interpretation Like there's always going to be that but let's let's narrow that down as much as possible So it isn't well I interpret it this way you interpret it this way No it's it's pretty clear This is how it is The the
sign bylaw is certainly an education you know it's uh it's it's pretty lengthy And like you said you know sometimes uh you you read it one way and you can read it completely different than how somebody else does and the more accurate
and clarified you can it can become Mhm I I'll open it up to do you have I asked you if you had a question Yeah I do I have I have questions Okay Um in um
Right All right So right Article two section B number four MBTA communities multif family overlay district Obviously this is a typo and that needs to be absolutely removed So I did send the Did Danielle
pass it along to you do you have the one that I that's on your that I I just got this on Thursday Okay Of last week So 94 pages of going over them and comparing them to our current bylar is a lot Um so no this is the one that I got last week
Okay So it has been posted um for the more than two week requirement That's a legal requirement right the planning board should have received it back in March when it was completed so that we could have actually gone over things more diligently instead of in the last seven days It was posted with your
public hearing notice which met the at least 14-day requirement Right Mhm So um we acknowledge that was a scrier's error and in the copies on your um seats tonight that is removed Um and also there was a revised copy posted online
that was just a simple like you said a scrier's error that hadn't been removed Um another one of the um I issues or questions that I have gets into the table of use regulations where it crosses off home
business or professional office studio conducted by a resident of the premises accessory use C on 1677D11 added 511 1998 Um and it's completely crossed out
I would love an explanation of why we would be crossing out the availability for home business and professional office and studio in somebody's home since I think co made it so that a lot of people stay home and work So this is interesting one for me What page is that
on um I'm sorry It was 167 It's um the Oh so yeah Attorney Hux has the answer to that 16 76 Well it's the use So um
one two three four I'm just helping Bert find it One two three fourth page of table use Okay Thank you Mhm Yes So that was um an instance where we consolidated a couple of related sections It's actually still
in the table of use regulations Customary home occupation conducted by a resident in the premises accessory uses So it's not eliminated It was really just consolidated with with another section and moved to a different spot
where um I'm looking at it It's in the table use regulations customary home occupation conducted by a resident of the premises It's so it's alphabetical We change also changed that to completely alphabetical
Okay I have it now You got it Give me a second to compare Is there a reason that the word studio is taken out of this like is cuz somebody might have an art studio or they might have a yoga studio in their house or something of that nature Is
there a reason why studio was taken out of that and can it be put back in you know what I mean no I I think that it was it was just left as uh customary home occupation conducted by a resident on the premises
I mean a studio would would be included in that if it's if it's a part of the you know part of that use Um I just think that it would be nice to have it clarified and not left out because a studio isn't an office and an office isn't a studio And so I think
that point is a good point to make It doesn't say office in here It says uh customary home occupation conducted by a resident of the premises accessory uses So it doesn't say just an office And the very next one says home business or
professional office/studio Mhm conducted by a resident of the premises So wouldn't that include you know office studio where is that it's the very next one right below customary I don't have that one Oh that's because
it's the current I think you're Yeah you're looking at the current bylaw Yeah Do you want me to wait on that one for a minute do you want to look at it are you good um so I would recommend that studio stay in that just to be clear Um since we are doing this to make things clear
we should probably consider that to be clear Medical marijuana treatment center as a primary accessess accessory use is crossed off I just wanted to have clarification of that because that's crossed off in all zones We did away with the differentiation
between medical um and just marijuana So it's it now just falls under mar the marijuana establishments Um and the reason for that being you know right now you have um the uh retail marijuana right is allowed um you know we have a
couple of different retail marijuana establishments as the zoning is currently written They actually can't do any sort of medical because there's a differentiation So the medical came before the retail So we're removing it completely We're just leaving it as yeah remove that section to just it's
marijuana So it doesn't differentiate between medical marijuana or retail marijuana It's now all just marijuana establishments Okay And also I just wanted to make note that um when we accepted the marijuana um establishment law a few years back in 2020 it had a 3%
sales that would come back to the town and that is removed That's incorrect We still get a 3% sales tax No we actually made remember we made an adjustment to one of their contracts to eliminate So that's a 3% impact fee Yeah but that does not affect the the the town meeting
uh vote was the 3% local option on sales tax right which we still get We do still get that We actually had to remove it from Flower and Soul's contract this year That's not part of the contract The 3% local tax is a state uh regulation that the town adopted and we still
receive that There was an additional 3% community impact fee that was uh deemed illegal by the state that were removed from the contracts but the 3% local tax that town meeting adopted is still received by the town All right Thank you for that clarification Um um multif
family dwellings crosses out apartments and then just puts multifamily development and makes it a special permit in well it still is making a special permit in the agric agricultural res residential business and conservancy
So um multif family development and then the um large increase in our bylaw of having multif family development is aka like an MBTA over o zoning overlay Um but because you have multiple pages of
multifamily being allowed in the town of Halifax that previously wasn't So um concerned about that I don't think that's accurate We don't add any that that was not added We like I said clarified things but we did not expand
you know allowing multif family housing throughout the town where it's not currently allowed That that is not the case Where it's currently not allowed Okay Well there's a few clarifications that I think need to be read over by everybody on this board Seriously um
because there there's a lot of information that is different now And um I think we need more time to go over that Okay Is that a question was there a question i'm just I'm just saying Yep
Um why and section 167 7 5C are we making um we're adding in a in in an individual
building or in the aggregate in more than one building on a single lot are allowed by special permit of the zoning board of appeals and crossing out the planning board Um why would we be re removing uh the
planning board is that special permit um decider Yeah So there granter it was one of the items throughout the bylaw that was um inconsistent There were some areas where just randomly it was the planning board some it was the zoning board of appeals So it was the
recommendation of the group to make it more consistent uh for these types of special permits to be granted by the zoning board of appeals as the special permit granting authority One of the reasons that it was in site plan review has to do with the fact that a 15,000 square foot building that is
sitting on a site has to be set correctly on the site and have the correct setbacks which is not the what zoning board of appeals goes over site plan review is not removed This is special permit understood But a 15,000 square foot building where where it goes
into on a plan would be most suitable at the um planning board due to the fact that is a major part of a site plan If you're putting a 15,000 square ft building on a property So now you're going to make it so that they have to go to the zoning board of appeals to get a
special permit and do a site plan in front of the planning board instead of making it simpler which would be both granted by the planning board Okay Is that a is that a question no I'm informing you So that actually is I'm well aware of the bylaw part of the
process for the past two years Well good But I'm I'm refreshing and going over all the finer points that maybe our residents would like to know Sure So you could be very familiar with it but I don't think that the residents are This
is 93 pages of changes Uh it's certainly not 93 pages of changes It's it's very different Okay So again this does not take away site plan review from the plan I just want to be very clear about that A
special permit is is required It is given the special permit would be granted by the ZBA You're absolutely correct on that But the planning board still have to go through site plant review um the the change in there with the aggregate one of the reasons was
before there was no uh defi it was not defined if it was aggregate or not Right so the qu this is one of those where up for interpretation if you have two separate buildings um that are less than 15,000 square ft individually but
aggregate or more than 15,000 does it require it it's up for interpretation That's why we're very clear in the aggregate So if you do have whatever the buildings are if they are total 15,000 square feet or more it triggers that special permit right and it's all going to affect aggregate and size of
buildings is all going to affect storm water management And again that is part of the site plan not a zoning board of appeals variance which is agreeing on uses and things of that nature So you're still variances We're not talking variances I understand it's a special
permit but again most of it goes to storm water That is planning board So you're giving issues over to the zoning board of appeals because maybe they're appointed I believe storm water given by conservation Storm water permits are
granted by conservation We also have some part of that right but the actual permits are granted by conservation Tom you have a question yeah I was just going to say um all they're going to the zoning board of appeals for is for a special permit for the aggregate size of the building and nothing else Correct That is correct Just trying to clear
that Still goes to the planning board for site plan review whatever everything else comes to the planning board Right It just makes an extra step though because now instead of just going to the planning board they're going to the zoning board of appeals and the planning board for a site plan But they're not going to I'm sorry But they're not going
to the zoning board of appeals for a site plan or anything only for the size the aggregate size of the building The idea again the idea with consistency was there were many other aspects where the ZBA was giving out special permits for you know various things within the bylaw So the zoning by review committee had
recommended to make it consistent So if you have an applicant coming in where do I go for this well gez let me let me try to figure that out It's consistent now Zoning board of appeals for the special permit there So crossing out planning board which clearly tells them where they would go is um less confusing and
by crossing it off and putting zoning board of appeals because you just sort of correct it's consistent Honestly Cody it said that you get a special permit for the planning board there So again as I've mentioned one of the purposes of this is but they might not have had to go to the zoning board of appeals at all
So now you're adding a layer Okay Anyway next one both um mixed use commercial and residential use is allowed in B commercial and business district by special permit in the zoning board of appeals So we haven't allowed mixed use
in Halifax So to just go over this really quickly this is a major new section I mentioned I did mention that as a change of substance very lightly both bo so basically both commercial and residential uses on one lot may be allowed in the B commercial and business
district by special permit granted by the zoning board of appeals as special permit granting authority where the zoning board of appeals finds that all requirements of the 1677D are satisfied So 1677D
is just as a note This is a lot to go over in seven days Again Amy it was posted online It's a legal requirement Whether you consumed it or not we cannot change It was the information was provided Nice
Thank you 1677 So the mixeduse development would be going to the zoning board of appeals for a special permit That is correct For a multi- a mixeduse multi-development that
you're going to so that but they'd still come to the planning board for site plan review if it triggers the site plan review Absolutely So it's another layer in the process We have the zoning board of appeals that needs to give them a variance to do something But we're also
just so that Halifax knows currently right now we don't allow mixeduse development So this is brand spanking new And just to clarify this is that would not be a variance from the ZBA That's a special permit
right and it's another layer We've allowed mixed use uh in the town of Halifax by special permit The uh the property the strip mall across the street from Our Lady of the Lake Church It's got commercial on the bottom and
residential up up top It was a special Yes there was There was a special permit issued for that But that was also pre-existing non-conforming And it also was taken away about 10 years ago somehow Do you want to get into that i I I I don't know the specifics of again
we're not talking specific parcels here We're just talking the zoning But I think there is no mixed juice in town the town of Halifax unless they allowed in the zoning bylaw So like as I mentioned that is a change of substance that would allow that by special permit Correct Right The only other ones that
were ever around before were done prezoning and again that was taken away about 10 years ago from that property So that's wrong Yeah I' I'd have to research that in
high school it was taken away I' I'd have to look into that Okay do it It's irrelevant at this for this discussion in any event Yeah I I think it's important to to Miss Troop's point I mean if there's additional questions
concerns this is Arizona bylaw is very thorough It's very indepth So um you know we can certainly if you have questions you can follow up with us No this needs to be so that people can watch it There are people who watch these hearings that might not be at the meeting So we're not going to just
scooch it over so that it's in a private email or a conversation All of these things need to be done publicly so that people understand You're the one saying that you weren't prepared to ask the questions tonight You thought it was a lot to digest So I'm offering an alternative Oh I've been I've been doing this for seven days Cody Good Okay So um
density regulations one um let's see that's pretty much the same What was I multif family so there's um two different areas of multif family development One might be um older but we also have the mixed use in So that's
that's a little um transient accommodations Is that word transient and um new to our bylaw can you reference where you're speaking of yeah we have it um just above article five which is uh exterior signs on the
top of that page assuming they're printed the same because you said that maybe there might have been some changes in the one that you left us today No that was only that scrier's error with the MBTA zoning that was changed um in the one today Okay We Okay so that is
also we don't have transient accommodations And then back in our use table we had um another reference to transient in there Okay Uh last page of the use table we have um transient accommodations
tourist homes but not including overnight cabins motel or hotels special permit in the um agricultural residential area That's a new um a new section um
sorry phrase within our use table Transient accommodations Do you see where I am i I do Uh we can look at the existing bylaw but that was not something um a point to to add
anything there that that again this was the table of use regulations is primarily um just alphabetized in the but can certainly look at that I don't Well it's in there and um I will double check to see that it wasn't in this one
in the current bylaw 167 what the table of use regulations Table of use regulations It's after definitions Is that the one you're referring to to uh tourist poems but not including overnight It doesn't have the word transient in it Is that correct that's I
I don't see it there It doesn't have the word transient 677 page uh 22 I want all um transient to be removed from this bylaw Yeah the word transient
transient accommodations Think about what that means And it was referring to the MBTA law Do they highlight all the changes in that sometimes like they're like purple and
sometimes a little Ital's eye sometimes a little bolded It's not really clear So so transient in this case is it just there you notice the slash there Um tourist homes uh overnight cabins motel or hotels Um but we we can certainly
remove that I would you're not looking to to add any sort of use or anything It was defining it in a broader sense for tourist homes I don't think that we've wanted a broader sense in the town of Halifax Okay So you're saying that the only part of
the signed bylaw that was changed was the one that you highlighted or was there something different so Amy actually Mr Bruno just brought up a point Um in the current zoning bylaw there is reference to transient accommodations
but it's not in our use table but he has it right here We just found it trans guess it it does say a transient accommodations uh let's see it is this is in the current
167 12 um C transient accommodations in all districts 2,000 square ft of law area shall be required for each room to be used by transient paying guests This requirement shall be in addition to the minimum law area requirements of the
district for any other use So it is referenced in the in the current bylaw but it was never an I use table and we've never been allowed to do any of these So maybe the way to clean it up would be to take that part out and take it out of
the use table where it wasn't before It wasn't in the use table before So we can take that part out Yeah I mean again that it's not me with the bylaw You can make that recommendation If the board of selectman want to make a uh amendment at town meeting they certainly can Or or anyone
wants to make an amendment at town meeting That's certainly you're right That was my next question was if it if it went on the uh town meeting floor if the amendment again would be proposed voted on correct and then amended
Yes is that well I I I I agree with you 100% but um I think part of the reason of having a public hearing like this is to get back uh input So uh if if um there are suggestions that uh should be
taken into consideration for changes or amendments or rewarding or whatever we we can do that and then when we hopefully come to an agreement that's how we'll propose it So it's not you know this isn't this isn't meant to be antagonistic at all This is meant to do
something that's positive which is what we're trying to do something positive something beneficial for the town something clearer And it's not meant to be antagonistic And again everybody knows the bylaws need to be adjusted It's been that way for 12 years and even longer probably So if there are issues
of uh you know wording or whatever uh you know that's what we want to hear we're ready to hear it and we by zoning bylaw committee can meet again or whatever and we can make whatever uh adjustments are necessary It's not but at this point of time before town
meeting it it can't be changed or readvertised or it would have to be done on the floor We can't change the warrant because it's already in print and it's already been approved We can amend it obviously on the floor as long as the moderator figures it's within the scope which we don't see any discussion here
that's like so far out that we wouldn't probably be able to but again the whole purpose of a public meeting a public hearing is to get input and have discussion on it So we're happy to hear that and if anything is uh uh pointed out we don't we don't um I don't think
anybody on that committee thinks they have all the answers by any means I think we t did the best we could uh with a lot of help from the building inspector and from the town council and from the town administrator to do uh a job for the town That's really what
we're trying to do So we're we welcome comments If you have comments if suggestions that need to be addressed we'll do it It's not a big deal Okay Thank you Mr Burmel Anything else Amy yep So in a state lots I planning board is
the special permit granting authority each submission to the board should and will be considered on its own merit and specifically specific applicability The plans generated for consideration should strictly adhere to the criteria set forth for plans not requiring approval
2356 of the Halifax code deleted Oh sorry That's deleted 2018 I I was wondering why I hadn't My bad So we again have um special permit granting authority and I um hold on
Uh actually right at the top of it special permit granting authority is now the Halifax zoning board of appeals and it's crossing out the planning board What I'm sorry what section are you in we are now in the office for protection
zone So the special permitting um is now again taken away from the planning board So it's not like in these laws okay there was no pointing out who to go to It's just
clearly no we're going to take it away from the planning board and we're going to give it to the zoning board of appeals I I I really would like to understand why that's happening all over the bylaw states flat out that the planning board is the special grant
special permit granting authority Okay and all all throughout the bylaw it's crossed out and given to the zoning board of appeals which again I will point out is an appointed board aquafer What type of special permit are we
talking about i'm trying to find the section that troops referring to It's at the aqua for protection zone And then in that same section under J it crosses off the failure of the special granting authority to take final action upon an
application for a special permit within 90 days following the date of public hearing shall be deemed to be a grant of the permit applied for Now does that so now um there's no deadline on that but is that crossed out
for the zoning board of appeals too in this or is it just crossed off in general i'm I'm not sure I understand your question Right So you in the aquaer protection zone
Mhm 1676 sorry 16717 aquafer and well protection You can go one two I'm just making sure I'm not missing anything Just give me one second
I pass all of the um charts and then the next page you have I special grant permit granting authority and again planning board is crossed out again and um zoning board of appeals is
put in its place Mhm And in J4 special permit granting authority is taken away And then six the complete section of failure by the special permit granting authority to take final action upon an application for special permit within 90
days following the date of public hearing shall be deemed to be a grant of the permit applied for which is now just totally removed So there's that 90 days now removed completely and what would now
the deadline be because for 45 site plan for instance is 45 days if we don't keep our eye and it goes then they get automatic constructive approval What happens with this uh attorney Hux can speak to this but I believe it was taken
out due to inconsistencies with the law um the the um the deadline for for granting or for deciding on special permit application would not change because that's in um the zoning act anyway So um that wouldn't yeah chapter
48 I believe it's in section 9 um uh that 90day deadline for constructive approval is in state law So well it would be nice though for the residents reading it to understand that because they that would be a really clear way of
telling anybody applying for something that they have 90 days instead of having to go to MGL law to find it So I feel like it's clarity to have it in there Um and pulling it out also would make it so that different zoning board members or
planning board members wouldn't understand that there is a 90-day constructive approval Um so that being said I just think it should remain in and I still am just going o I thank you for that I just think it should still be in Okay um the
zoning board of appeals replacing the planning board throughout this entire um new bylaw is not something small and I think that um it's very something that the town should be very aware
of Um on letter O just above one the new 16718 Um are we taking out the water supply protection area map from our zoning
bylaws it's right below in P water supply protection area map Yeah Are we taking that map out of the zoning bylaws and why would we do that no What what cuz it looks crossed out here Is that maybe just a printer it was It was Oh
and now it's just in P water supply protection area map So it's still in there It was just a releting Okay Thank you Because it looks crossed out on this one Okay Yeah it just must have been a printer the way it printed but it's still in there under P
You will be after the planning board has their questions The public will open up for public consumption again in 167 new 18 um use restrictions where uh we're giving it to the
zoning board of appeals Sorry 16718 is wireless communication services districts Yeah Or it or we're saying Yeah So zoning board of
appeals again It appears that um the procedure for a special permit has a lot of um X's through um that I guess that's for wireless procedure but there's a lot
of crossing off just as a note I don't really think we can do much about that unfortunately 16719 blighted properties Sounds really good to have somebody be able to go around town and
say "Oh my god these people have lawn grass or they have trash over there It sounds really good." But who's going to be that person that's going to go around and judge all the town who's going to do that the zoning enforcement officer
health agent chief police we already have the ability that if there is a property that is foreclosed it comes in it gets registered and then the bank tries to do what they can to get rid of it as quickly as they can But then there are
some people that are poor and might run through bad health and they don't need to have harassment maybe a little bit more help So this blighted properties issue is um something that we brought up at town meeting
H maybe I'm going to give it the 5 to sevenyear box ago and the town was against it This is um definitely over that time period but
we have five pages uh or sorry one two three four five pages of um basically control on blighted properties which I find to be quite alarming
um violations penalties enforcement Um it's it's documented by the zoning enforcement officer Um that's that so that you basic basically are putting your
condition in the hands of whoever the building commissioner is No the the bylaw is very specific Um uh a it defines uh blighted property and then further in the bylaw um it also
gets into some more specifics under maintenance requirements So long grass you had mentioned I don't see that anywhere in the bylaw Well it's not specifically in there but there isn't anything that is specifically in there There is no section A is very specific
actually the premises not being adequately maintained and secured um without limitation the following Missing or boarded windows or doors collapsing or missing walls roof or floor siding that is seriously damaged or missing fire damage a foundation that is structurally faulty accumulation of
interior furniture outside garbage trash junk hazardous materials unmaintained pools or other sources of stagnant water and violations of the sanitary code inoperable cars boats motorcycles or other inoperable machinery or other refues Other refues right so
long So what is other refues long lawn would not because refuse is trash E Cody Smith specifically says right there in a condition which poses a serious threat to safety health and general welfare of the town They're also specific about the building itself the structure supported
by columns of walls resting uh which again it could cause a serious public safety issue I thought it was pretty specific to be honest with you Well I I think that maintenance um is not
specific Um some people's trash is other people's uh treasure We have that Um and it's just giving a lot of authority to the building inspector which originally was put into place in order to help and
guide residents not really so much in force but to make sure that a construction um heating uh contractor or somebody did their job right so that they wouldn't be screwed over It wasn't to become control
And this enforcement absolutely that position is a state fund a statemandated uh requirement a building commissioner zoning enforcement officer So that's exactly what the purpose of that position now but that's not how they were originally installed and as we keep going further and further into the
future and putting more and more control into government we're giving less and less control So the idea of this is great if you're talking about a hoarder that has things all over their yard with oil and everything but it really gets
into um other avenues in this that are not specific I think it charges tons of fees to people who already have issue and we already have border health laws that make it so that if they have um rats animals
and lit literally sanitary issues it already gives the issue to get rid of that So I'm just saying that I think that it is something that is being put into a a a zoning bylaw review that we'll just go over and correct a couple of things I'm thinking that five pages
of blighted property and how we can take them from people and find people is really not what the town so just just also to clarify that point there's no mechanism for taking anyone's home or anything under this bylaw No but I mean
once the fees start going on what why do you have foreclosed property and mortgage properties involved in the same properties have to do with not paying a mortgage they don't have to do nothing fee related to a blighted properties bylaw No but somebody who lives there might they if they start obtaining fees
and they're already under the under the um they don't have enough money to pay their bills and now the town's fining them It could be a form of bullying which has happened in this town on several occasions and it's not okay So
that that is not okay You could use the border of health laws and if they're getting foreclosed upon I believe the bank's taking care of it and hoping somebody would sell off We don't need to try and find revenue sources
through that you know So the the intent Mr Bruno can speak to this but the intent was we actually got a lot of feedback from the community that there's a lot of these properties that are this exactly you know have a lot of junk Yeah I can imagine the 12 of them Okay
First offense $50 second offense $100 third offense and each subsequent offense $150 Upon failure to comply with any order issued by this bylaw the town may in addition to other penalties and actions bring legal action against the
owner to require compliance with the order including but not limited to seeking a court approved receiver for the property in violation The imposition of any fine shall be not be construed to prevent the enforcement of other laws upon the premises or prevent the initiation of other
enforcement measures or penalties Failure to pay any fine arising from the enforcement of this bylaw shall constitute a debt in favor of the town That would be um a municipal ability to take the house There would be a the town
may place a lean on the property for such debt and or initiate a civil action against the owner in a court of competent competent jurisdiction to recover the debt And so yeah that would actually be the steps towards being able to take somebody's home from them from
maybe something that was a maintenance issue or maybe they thought that they are antique table that they got for free off the side of the road somebody else is calling it trash Okay I understand That's altogether different from from what C is saying which for which the
completed uh in which the condition which poses a serious threat to safety health and the general welfare of the town of Halifax It's a safety and opposing to uh health and welfare that's altogether different from somebody's
nice end table You know it's uh I I I think it's pretty specific to be perfectly honest with you It uh Yes John It's very general the town doesn't have any ability currently to deal with that type of a
property If it's a abandoned building with uh with with um that's just not being maintained U we have a couple in pro in town Everybody knows where they are and we have no ability to do anything about them because as long in foreclosure there is some provisions for
that but there's nothing else we can do This is an issue that has come up uh multiple times uh in the last couple of years for do something about these buildings whatever they are and I don't I'm not going to specify them right now because that's not appropriate but
that's an is it's an issue then we have no other ability to do anything This gives us at least something to work with that we can um that the town can um if nothing more encourage whoever owns the thing and sometimes it's an
absentee mortgagey absentee lawyer absentee owner something like that that doesn't really care that much we can't do anything about it So this is what meant to do I think the um again the the whole purpose of this bylaw is is to make things better for the town of
Halifax It's not meant as an aggressive back and forth on why are you doing this why are you doing that why are you doing this if you have suggestions to make this better we're willing we want to hear them That's what we're trying to do But that's but this but this particular bylaw here this is something that's come
up from for the last couple of years often and we need to do something to control it and that's why it's there So thank you You proved my point Then we can get into the site plan review where it um gets into breakdown
of all these different thresholds and it's not really that clear Um it's very it's very lengthy It's hard for people to understand When you had a site plan before and just came here we were all very clear when it was an easier thing to just be like "Oh well that's an easy
change We've did we did that um with many." But you're breaking it down and making it extremely difficult when it could just be all round up to one thing They come here we do a site plan we do a modification and that has been working
This is a very complex system put in by a Northshore town and I don't really it makes it more confusing and that's what we're all stating as realtors across the state Tons of us who
have been in for 20 years the new bylaws when they get a new bylaw are less readable because they're too complex It is pretty simple that if you know that you have to have a site plan you go to the planning board But when you have different variations there's more interpretations to be made So the
the goal of this was and I think I appreciate you bringing up that point because um this exactly does make it clear that way there it's not well this planning board thinks this project should trigger a site plan review but you have a different membership and a
board in the future and they don't think it should trigger a site plan review This makes it very clear to the community what triggers a site plan review and at what level for whatever project you're doing Um that way there it's not well so and so no they shouldn't have to go through site plan
review well so and so should It's very clear what projects trigger the site plan review and what that process is Um it defines each level in length under the so level one which is the minor projects uh have five different criteria level two which are the major projects
uh have uh nine different criteria and then it lays out the procedure for the site plan review So not only does it give the applicant very clear uh what they can expect to go through the site plan review process but also for planning board members Miss Troop as you said might not all be familiar with you
know 4A or all the zoning bylaws Well a planning board member could open this up and read quite quite you know it's very clear what is the process for a site plan review and to what level regarding the project So it's it's very clear uh on to what what the triggers are and
what that process is But we're also allowing 1,00 square foot buildings to be built without any site plan at all So if that's on a commercial lot and it goes onto a commercial lot then nothing is being reviewed about where the fire trucks can go how much parking is needed
for that So you're you're losing a whole lot of the site plan from this And that's no So parking of No So any parking three to five spaces added not what about subtracted so construction of any uh would require
that which would mean added Mhm So what about subtracted so if you put So if you're subtracted then you would have had of an initial permit right initial site plan review And if you're going to subtract then you'd be you'd be in violation of your site plan review that initially was approved by the planning
board I don't know It's a little kind of sketchy Harry If you just put it all into the same place and we all know that the laws that like so our site plan application used to spell out absolutely everything check off where you were looking for waiverss
and it went right along with what our actual bylaws are and somehow that went away over the last um six seven months When did it change and I me mentioned it i think it was October or November
So it made it difficult because now we don't have all of this in front of them and that was actually something that they could see in writing and and have the application That's a great point and it's not in the bylaw So it's at the board's discretion So if you have a different planning board they can require different things I don't think
the planning board changed that I believe it was the building commissioner because it wasn't it wasn't us as at least a board that voted But if it's but if it's in the zoning bylaw it's a requirement And then it's very clear for the board and also clear for the application So you're saying it's in
here now that that site plan application that we used to have is No no What I'm saying is the procedure is in here the trigger and then the procedure We had the procedure in writing before and it was in the bylaw in the zoning bylaw I don't I don't believe the proced
it was in the application and it's pretty much right here We could add to what we had before by stating what that application was and included in the zoning bylaw and that would have abol absolutely cleaned it up but now we're making it so what concern it sounds like
you have concerns with the procedure like Mr Bruno said certainly this you know the point of this is feedback so what in the procedure do you have concerns with so we can consider that well number one it was made by I don't think there was one planning board member that ever I'm sorry I wasn't
clear what particularly in the procedure in the proposed bylaw are you concerned I will get to that but I will say that a lot of this was not there was not one planning board member sitting in the zoning bylaw review committee to actually go over any of this so that they had any experience to
offer There was not one So I would I don't even believe that there was any zoning bylaw expert on that committee at all We had two finance committee people We had one conservation person who couldn't make it any longer We had John
We had you which you've been bringing a lot of um state document down to us I'm not sure I know what you mean but our zoning enforcement officer is certainly an expert with uh zoning bylaws and also town council attorney Huxen was at every meeting and he's an expert And uh we
also had a zoning zoning board of appeals member member Yep And then also as Mr Bruno mentioned these are all public meetings all publicly posted and we encouraged attendance We had attendance Um you know we can't control
who attends the meetings or not right so there are a lot of things in here that are uh crossed off I could keep going on and on about how the planning boards crossed off for the appointed board and that the Well what in what in particular i I just
want to make sure we're understanding your concern I've been going over all of it No the the pro you you mentioned the site plan review I believe that's the section we were talking about break it down so much that different levels and I think that you should just make it simple and make sure that the planning
board sees all site plan applications and they make the recommendation I agree on whether or not site plan review is a is under the direction of breaking it down so that a thousand square foot building could go onto a site plan without any approval by um the
elected planning board That's what you're doing if it doesn't trigger any of the other points So any sort of how it is Now any other any sort of business is going to require three or more parking spots right the planning board knows that So that would then trigger
three of a minor project which is three to five parking spots If it required more than that again we're not doing away with any of your other requirements If it required more than that that then elevates it to a major project right under this threshold Uh so again or any changes to loading areas dumpster
locations exterior lighting major landscaping features accessory structures That's another trigger of the of the site plan review process So it's it's not taking away any sort of oversight of the site plan review process The goal of this was again to make it so it's a clear defined process
for the applicant and the planning board If you have specific recommendations it certainly would make sense as a planning board member We we want to hear that Oh really absolutely That's that's why we're here Well would have been nice to have been able to take my zoning board of um my
zoning review Um I was on the zoning bylaw review with an open seat I still have my card still stamped by the town clerk and I would have been at every meeting and I would have had it but I was against what the town was against MBTA
zoning and it just happened to be when the senior overlay district was in front of us the day that I was removed when you had Thornike over here with three members of the planning board sitting here and selling out the town The only reason that I was removed from that board which I believe illegal
was due to the fact that they wanted to change the bylaws to include mixeduse blighted properties and all the things that the town of Halifax clearly has stated before were against Can I ask a question sure These were open meetings correct absolutely All posted could
attend if they wanted to attend Absolutely End of story And just at another point for the public um these are recommendations right so the zoning by review committee is a subcommittee of the board of selectmen The board of selectmen put these forward as recommendations Uh it's a legal
requirement that the planning board hold this public hearing Hence why we're here tonight And then ultimately it is town meetings decision on whether to adopt these or not by a two-thirds majority That you know that's so it's certainly it's not anyone's decision other than the residents of Halifax We're trying to just uh a follow the law and also try to
provide clarification and get feedback on these Right And as long as it's been discussed at this hearing it can be amended on the town meeting floor Correct Absolutely And I do not believe that I I have a question about the uh accessory unit dwellings Why is it that we would take
um accessory unit dwellings as a zoning bylaw change pressed down upon us in a mandate when MBTA was a mandate and we didn't want to take that So why wouldn't we so that the town can vote not to take AUD they can we would still be issuing
the permits anyways It's a requirement of the building department that we have to issue these How because it's the state law Well this the town doesn't accept the bylaw then then how does the state overrun us i mean that again is
tyranny It's called tyranny Yeah I'm not here to debate that with you I'm here to explain the zoning changes Um the state law requires accessory dwelling units And as our z our building commissioner he is also upheld to the oath to enforce the laws Um so if somebody comes before
him he he has to he has to follow the law right what about the town of Halifax home rule i mean we really just need to talk about that I think you're you're a little bit off topic No I'm I'm not Yeah Oh Rich go ahead Um so the accessory dwelling unit state
law is not a local acceptance law It's not I mean some laws say if accepted by the town through vote of it I mean this is not one of those It's it's a law that's been passed you know by the state legislature and the town would be subject to it anyway
um this kind of just gives a little bit more control actually uh to it and most towns are passing these kinds of zoning bylaws but the the the um the real point is that it's a state law that would apply anyway Well I'm just talking about
the fact that it it's a lot like the MBTA mandate that they were trying to push down upon all the towns It's the same type of thing So I don't see why the state can just go in and say what we can and cannot do in our properties because it does affect all of us and it
can affect our infrastructure Um I mean in the most general sense it's similar to the MBTA Communities Act because they're both state laws but I think that's really kind of where the similarity ends No I don't I understand they're different laws but I don't like
the fact that we we're sitting here as a United States con like constitutional republic and we're taking um the state now allowing them to say you can change this that you need to change this It's it's the opposite of what our country
was founded on Mr Hudson yes correct me if I'm wrong I think one of the differences is the MBTA mandate requires the town to pass a bylaw whereas the
accessory dwelling unit was not presented in that fashion It is in fact state law That's a very good point That is true Right It doesn't make any better And and I mean a lot of people consider the accessory dwelling unit lot to be a good thing because you know it it for
people who um want to like make a little more income you know single family residence owners they can do that It you know pro it can provide another form of um housing for people who might be not be able to afford other forms of housing
Um so you know people see positives to it also keeps your children home I don't know if that's positive or not Thank you You're welcome Cody is there anything uh in in the especially on the
site plan review that uh still uh you know can there be whatever level it is level one two or or three uh can there be waiverss and modifications to certain things there is there anything that addresses that cuz we've had that
we've had that problem in town also Mhm Let's see Let me get to the exact section here just so I'm quoting it you know the that specifically says it's it's mandated so to speak Not to use that word but that a site plan is done
that a peer review is done that storm water management survey is being done that can't be waved bypassed or uh modified or can it be um under certain circumstances well the the threshold for
conducting the actual site plan is in here that you know the site plan would have to be conducted but then under the conditions for approval Uh it does say that the site plan approval may be made subject to conditions modifications and restrictions as the planning board may deem necessary in order to satisfy any
of the decision criteria listed above Um any construction reconstruction alteration or addition shall be car carried on only in conformity with such conditions modifications or restrictions in conformity with the uh application and site plan cuz again we have run into that
problem in the past kind of kind of learn the hard way so to speak when you know water's rushing down our home street You know you you can go surfing on it And uh a site plan or peer review storm water
management was was given a pass you know or was varied or was deemed not necessary That that's what I'm looking for if if there was something you know that uh concrete that would whether it be the zoning board
planning board It does with site plan review It goes on uh under the procedure It basically gives you a decision criteria right so it lays it out very specifically and then it says you know that the project will minimize the volume of cut and fill minimize the
number of removed trees 6 in in caliber or larger The area of wetland vegetation displays soil erosion the threat of air and water pollution traffic congestion avoid removal of existing stone walls where removal is required minimize length of removal Uh so it it yeah
provide adequate storm water management and other utility consistence utilities consistent with the requirements of the town of Halifax storm water management bylaw and the planning board subdivision rules and regulations So it it it's clear in what kind of the criteria are and then the avenue to get there again
through site plan review is that same criteria was there prior as it exists right now but waiverss and whatnot could were able to be given I guess depending on who uh you spoke to or whatever Mhm
Yeah I mean so that's that would be a discretion of the planning board Um okay great Thank you Anybody else have any of your more questions concerns or comments can I just I just want to follow up on what Tom said about the ADU
um so if we don't have a bylaw if we don't if we don't accept this bylaw we don't have any bylaw that even mentions the ADU And uh you or you or you or I walk into the building inspector's office and tell him "I'm going to put an ADU in my
yard." He has to allow it He has to allow it It's not We get a choice he has to allow it If we put this bylaw into effect the point here is it gives us some control as as attorney Huxim said we can control it to some extent and
this is this gives us some control over it But if we don't have it it you know he's going to get to do it anyway The building inspector has to let him do it under you know whatever he wants to do So you No I was just going to agree with him Yeah that's exactly what it is
That's why it I mean it is a state law It's a requirement and and I get all the MBTA stuff but this is completely different It's just a whole different kettle of fish Well okay Uh the way I look at it and anybody else has a different opinion please uh jump in Uh basically we have
two options I did I asked if anybody from the pup I didn't see your hand before Sorry Yes Step up and give us your name and address please to start um Chris Gian in case because you didn't
know me most of you do When this whole process was going on right right now you have cat mice and you guys could be judges or cuz you're really not jumping in sinking closing like she is Why when
you're reading over this stuff and you're going to fine-tune everything you're sitting with a gaggle of people and you're going "All right we'll read through this All right we got to change this to this and we have to change that to that We're going to adjust it so it makes it easier." And then you bring it up in front of these
guys and it takes x amount of time and stuff going back and forth Well this and someone gets a hair here and someone gets a hair there Why don't you just go all this is being changed on this particular 16720 We changed this because of this
reason And when you send them to that 14day period that they're supposed to be able to absorb all of this new information and it's 95 pages of the stuff you could be reading through it which I seriously doubt you all did from
what I'm seeing when you're reading it and the words changed you can look over to the side and go "This was changed because of this reason." So now if they have any questions in the few days that it's before this particular day they can call
each other and go "Hey this that and the other thing instead of sitting in front of a camera and bucking things back and forth throwing shots across the bow trying to get a point across or trying to explain something and not getting it or getting it or having 17 other
questions they could actually just sit there and go "All right that's why he's doing this." So that question will never come up So it'll be a little bit more smoother of a process Instead of her reading 95 pages and not getting any other color
commentary they could just say "All right this was changed because of this reason." They did that but they didn't do all the things that I have been bringing up It was just an overview It was a little bit of a what I call a sales pitch an overview Yeah But there are any words
changed in the entire situation They just kind of surmised it Should be going through the chairman but you just just they was there anything I can only have one person who's going Yes Carry on They can only go through what well
I I appreciate your comments you know in a in a perfect world that's how that's how certainly it should work and go back and forth in in in an adultlike manner uh to to to work things out and which is what I think the basic premise for So
you guys already got the whole thing was they've been working reasoning why the changes were made in the paperwork but it just we didn't know that So you guys already had that information We were just left the final draft of the zoning
bylaws on our chairs tonight Yes John So I don't know I don't sure what his question was in any way but um first the first thing is first thing is we we are planning to have another public uh discussion on April 30th That'll be here Uh anybody who's had now
two three weeks to read these bylaws can come and we'll talk about it again That's uh still part of the process It's not like we're trying to to uh to move this through This has been in works before I didn't think that at all I was trying to explain the transition No I I understand and that's why you have
public hearing So we take these things but we are going to have another hear not another hearing but we'll have a public uh discussion on this before town meeting so that um again we can have these discussions You know it it it if you look at this the the zoning bylaw to
start with it's a very complicated uh piece of literature you know and it's been in it's been amended over the course of time Uh if you look at uh you you'll see in their annotations to you know town meeting in 1990 town meeting
in 2012 I mean all these different things has been changed but it's not been um uh put together as a whole and that's what we're trying to do There are certain u pieces that are going to be different Uh most of it is was a matter
of re if you read it most of it's a matter of reorganizing it Uh some of the definitions for example uh had to be changed like medical ma like medical um medical marijuana which we don't need anymore Uh some other things like that
So uh that's that's what this is all about And again this is not this is not meant to slam anybody It's not meant to drum it down your throat It's not at all what the purpose of this is Again this is something that's been in the works for 12 years And uh what we're we're
we're trying to do is to do something for the town that's positive That's really what we're trying to do And that that's what all this is about And if there are uh objections to it I wasn't questioning that at all Yeah But if there are objections But if there are objections to it uh that we can work out
between between now and when it's voted on that's what we'll try to do I mean that's that's really what we should be doing That's what we're trying to do And that's that's that's the whole purpose here It's not not meant to be aggressive at all It's not really not And it's merely meant to do uh to do the town's
business That's what we're trying to do Can I ask another question on on that um what's it called light blighted the bad blighted properties properties and stuff who sets the fees and who gets the money
the fees are set in this bylaw and then the my question is so if who gets who sets the fees who gets the money and is this person going to be be uh fined if they don't have the money to pay the
first time is the money going to go back to to the community to try to find somebody to fix the damn problem to that particular person instead of Let me see if I can get an answer for you M Mr Cody or or Mr Cody Cody the uh fine amounts
are set in the bylaw They're defined in the bylaw And as far as where the money goes uh Mass General law requires that the finances just go back into the town's general fund Are there state fines that are that are established already too or or how did how were these fines determined I guess come up the
numbers uh just from information that we've gathered from other communities but they're they're laid out in the bylaw So again that's somewhere if there's a concern there that that can be changed that can be amended the amount of the fine which towns did we get the blighted properties from rich do
you recall which towns we got the blighted property bylaw from we we really pulled uh we can get that information but we pulled several communities together um and kind of made it fit with Halifax We we also wanted to make sure we weren't overreaching right
and making sure that we're compliant with state law cuz like I think was mentioned earlier you know all these have to go through the attorney general to make sure we're we're compliant with state law And so do you remember any of the towns that were looked at not off the top of my head No not in this section I know that you mentioned about
about the uh fire department the board of health the uh the different departments and whatnot Please there were no numbers or anything set by uh say for the board of health or anything like that for a specific violation of of the health code you know cuz we were
those are separate Those are separate completely separate Yeah This is just for violations of the blighted properties bylaw that would the the fines are laid out there Okay Thank you You just just for any clarification whatever it's worth the communities have always had some ability
to take care of these properties I've gone out over the years and gotten court orders to demolish homes So so this kind of cottifies something as opposed to it Maybe a little longer than I might have preferred
but and maybe a little harsher here and there But you know it isn't anything extraordinary really But that's acting as a building commission or building inspector Yeah As zoning officer which is even worse
Anybody else have any other common statements they'd like to make cody can I have that listed towns please for the biding Yes Your your name and address please Uh Jeff Madden 134 Fuller Street Um these bylaws do nothing to help me
I've been to the town several times My next door neighbor brought in unbelievable amount of trash put it on the property line So if I could just show you guys some pictures at the end of this so you could see what I'm talking about because I don't know some people say one man's treasure one man's trash but if you can see with what I'm
dealing with you might have a little more understanding Talking specific cases tonight sir This is just in in general Oh no I'm speaking in general Each individual circumstance is is separate on its own and has to be My
laws do nothing to help me at all So I mean I work for the town of Hangingham I've been to their town hall I've been to every department you guys have here So I'm just saying some new bylaws could help a lot of people But if anybody's interested in looking at a couple of
pictures I'd appreciate it I will I Yes After the meeting Okay Thank you I appreciate it And my intention isn't that like somebody has a couple of things I understand the whole but we already have ways to deal with
that if people would actually you know enforce it but but making a bylaw like this puts it's not about what it is today it's what it will become that is the problem for me in this I understand
when there's like a hoarder house you know and the entire property is covered by something that that's a problem but I think we already have things in place for that What I'm talking about is the fact that this can start being interpreted a little bit
um differently and for um people's interests if if you will I've I've seen it used incorrectly and I but I definitely know what you're talking about I think based on what you're
stating but I'm I'm I'm looking out for the little guy that will be in trouble in a few years because there are some cities that already have this type of bylaw that have issues where people are losing their houses due to the fact that they've been bullied by certain people
in the town and this is a mechanism to do so Okay Uh what what I'd like to do is uh I'd like to first uh if there's no one other comments or whatnot I'd like to uh close the public hearing and then we as
a board will decide uh if and how and when we want to vote So uh I'll accept a motion to uh to adjourn the uh the public hearing on uh I I would actually like to um do something different I would like to extend this hearing to our
next planning board meeting where um we can go to the forum and listen to what the town's people are stating at that forum and then make a better educated decision after everybody's read the bylaws cuz I believe Tom you said
earlier that you didn't get a chance to read them all I don't know if you have you could go over the site plan things I didn't think you did um the site plan you could go over that different stuff um and and mark down different things that maybe you think could be added or subtracted to it and you know whatever
you would want to do Rick like you know like maybe make sure that a peer review happens on every single site plan Um and we could think about all these things take notes go to the public forum and then at our next planning board meeting we can vote after having a fully
educated and a full board because we are missing one member tonight I I was going to suggest that we just wait for our recommendation at town meeting which is effectively the same thing right we do have uh another meeting as a planning board before town meeting in which we
could again gather information or whatnot that we want and then vote as a board whether or not we're going to uh recommend it at at town meeting Uh and that way there are changes you know we want to add subtract or or whatever it give the us as a planning board an
opportunity to do so I thought we but as a public hearing if it was open we had to close the public hearing So we would request that you at least close the public hearing tonight You your decision can come any time prior to town meeting Um the reason is if if you do not close
your public hearing and continue it um we would not meet the 21day threshold set by the state So um it potentially could result in no action being able to be taken at town meeting if we don't meet that 21day threshold So you don't need to make the decision but you do
need to have held that hearing within more than 21 days which this you know what date that 21 days is up Cody and when did it start ticking and when is it up it's 21 days from May 12th I believe it's at the mid mid next week would be
the the 21 day roughly I don't I don't have my calendar in front of me but 3 weeks Monday it' be 3 weeks from time you know So the public hearing would need to be closed prior to that Your decision like I said could come any time but the public hearing itself we can do it at
town meeting for that your decision Absolutely Yeah As a matter of fact the warrant says planning board's recommendation at town meeting So whether you make that decision beforehand and just stand up and give that recommendation or you actually make that at town meeting that that's fine We'd have to post a meeting anyway if
we're going to be there So we just post it a little earlier so that we have a chance to any last minute thoughts Well we can take it up at our next meeting and still have it on our agenda I'm going to make a vote that um we um close Does anybody else have anything at all i
asked that Okay I just wanted to make sure because I'm making a motion now that we close the public hearing for the bylaws and that we um move the rest of our conversations and maybe any notations and changes that we might want until the next meeting um in the
beginning of May May I think that should be two different motions may 1st Mayday It I I agree I think it should be two different motions Correct me if I'm wrong the motion to close the hearing and then I'll accept the motion Do it Fine So I'll make a motion to close the
public hearing Do I have a second second I have a motion in a second on the floor to uh close the public hearing Uh I'll ask for voice vote Amy yep Myself yes Uh Tom yes And Rick yes Passes unanimous
Thank you people for your participation Thanks guys very much Appreciate all the work you've done Mr You have the other item the petition zoning article that you have to have a public hearing on as well right just now Um you want me to open that well so just
to clean up business on the zoning bylaws as a whole um I would like to um bring it up and have it on the agenda at the next meeting So I will motion to make sure that our zoning bylaws will be
um on the agenda for the next meeting May 1st 7 p.m I have a motion on the floor to put it on the agenda for our next meeting Do I have a second sure Second I have a motion and a second I'll ask for a roll call vote Amy yep Myself
yes Tom yep And Rick sure Unanimous All right let's uh go on to open up the review of citizens petition article to allow body art establishments tattoo studios There's an old studio we were
trying to think of We'll see what I mean As a as permitted as a permitted use by right in a commercial zone Uh is there a hearing you go to resident by what they just wanted to vote in um I don't see a hearing notice for this
one Did we close the hearing too soon without going over the tattoo one was that No this is a separate separate separate hearing This is a separate one Do we have There's A and B and this is B Okay We just we just opened and closed We had A Now we're doing B Right So I'm
looking for the advertisement that we had so I can read that into record is what I'm asking about I don't think I saw I don't think I saw it in my Do you see what I'm saying now so what do I do do I sort of um
All right So Tom I'm thinking that I could say the Halifax Planning Board will hold a hearing um and say our meeting date and then um to review the zoning bylaw amendment to allow body art establishment tattoo
studios as a permitted use by right in the commercial zones Um I think that well so you see what I'm saying so motion to open hearing Uh I don't see the hearing notes Um
maybe we can find it online Um good idea Town website probably Yeah I would think it would be there I would hope it would be there Um give me a second I think I might have found it
Well it says on our uh on our uh No I agree with you wholeheartedly but I'm looking for this to legally read out loud Yeah And I think uh in that too no that's not it It says the the text
comprising the proposed zoning bylaw amendments as in plural may be inspected at the uh office of the team will hold the public meeting The great all to review zoning bylaw amendments for town meeting Do you think that covers us
where it's plural what do you guys think what do you I don't I would I um see what you're stating However I'd be more comfortable having a having a separate one Well
because we knew I think that they were pro All right So for instance the date that this one was put in was March 11th The I'm sorry the I'll be specific The body art tattoo one was put in March
11th So when it was advertised was it advertised the same but they're listed separately because it's not in the main body of the zoning bylaws And then we'd have to reopen the hearing which I think we'll
have to get Hux and Cody in here for Cody can you hear me does that make sense no read the undersigned But we have to read the um Did you Wait a minute Did you look on the site i did
look on the site but you know what what about the Halifax reporter or Express whatever it is only thing I see here is I think it was on a paper I think it was a mailbox express Yeah Yeah You think what what if
we had to have been advertised so I'm going to see if I can catch him Somebody I want to take a fivem minute recess Uh second Accept a motion for a fiveminute recess So move a second All those in favor say I I I'll be right back So
good I'll make a motion to um go back into the planning board session open session meeting of Thursday April 17 2025 Yes Uh do I have a second second Motion and a second Uh all those in
favor say I I I Unanimous Okay Okay Now we're going to uh accept a motion to uh open the hearing for the uh public hearing to uh for section B review of a citizens petition article to allow body art establishments tattoo studios as a
permitted use by right in commercial zones Uh do I have a motion so moved and a second Second A motion and a second to open the public hearing Uh all those in favor say I I I Unanimous
Okay Where are we so we have um the presenter here Is the presenter here no Good one So we have an bylaw that um I think
simply reads hold on 1677 commercial uses allowed by special permit only in an industrial district That's what the current one is And it wants to be changed to by right
Well here is the uh business Yeah it it's right now it's only in the industrial zone and they want to move it keep it in the industrial but also right and then go to commercial but make it all as of right Is that how I'm And so it wouldn't
be a special permit It would be as of right because they're not here Would you mind reading their letter into the uh Yeah I have zero problem with that I was just actually going to the actual bylaw itself cuz I can see how it's there and I just wanted to make sure
1677 under uh commercial uses I think it's I just read it out loud Yeah Yeah Because you could read it that which is currently supposed to change to Yeah Yeah 1677 commercial uses allowed by special permit only in the uh industrial
district Everything else is not allowed Ben do you have it any give it to you can I yeah Instead of me looking for it Do you mind thank you Hold on This not that
That's to open the hearing You mean this one right But for some Oh wait a minute I have it was on the back of a page Okay Okay it's on the screen too Um John I don't know if you want to um look at the
screen and I'll read it out loud Proposed amendment to the Halifax zoning bylaws which would be adding um a section in um 1677c table of use regulations I imagine it would go in by alphabetical order to
allow body art establishments parentheses tattoo studios and parentheses as a permitted use by right in commercial zones Vote to amend article 167-7 which is our schedule of use
regulations of the Halifax zoning bylaws as follows or take any other action relative there too Amendment amend section 1677 C table of use regulations by modifying the designated
of body art establishment to allow operation in the B commercial and business district zoning in addition to the existing I industrial zone Currently it is not
permitted in commercial I'm sorry current is not permitted or special permit required in just the industrial zone correct proposed Y would be per permitted excuse
me permitted by right so they'd be modifying 1677D special use regulations to remove any requirement for a special permit for body body art establishments in B
commercial and business district The purpose and justification the current zoning restriction which limits tattoos studios to industrial zones or requires a special
permit is outdated and based on misconceptions from the early 2000s Modern tattoo studios are highly regulated professional establishments that prioritize cleanliness and safety offering a welcoming environment for
both patrons and the community Since that time the town has allowed businesses such as a marijuana dispensary to join the B commercial and business district zone alongside liquor stores bars and hair salons
This demonstrating Halifax's willingness to modernize its business regulations Tattoo studios today are professional highly regulated and operate stimulate to barberhops salons and art studios all of which are permitted in
commercial zones Reclassifying Tattoo Studios as a buy use in commercial zones will encourage business growth increase local tax revenue and enhance the town's business diversity while maintaining all necessary health and regula and safety
regulations I'd like to state that I was reading this and I'm not necessarily in belief of all of that Thank you Not necessarily endorsing about uh feedback some opinions from the board Tom I I've struggled with this a little
bit I I I get the point that some of this is outdated Um I mean not that I'm going to be running down to get a tattoo anytime soon but uh you know it's they're legitimate
businesses Now part of my problem is that we really don't have a lot of industrial locations to actually site one I can't even think of too many places that are still available um in the industrial zone So you know we're kind of a little
exclusionary to begin with I I guess I don't have a real problem with it I'd probably still like to have it by special permit but um I I understand the argument So I I guess I'd be generally
okay with it Rick Amy Yeah I don't see a problem with it at all honestly You know you know with special permit just like it would be in industrial right now What do you think i I actually 100%
agree with Tom Like I um was going to say we could make it by special permit Um in so keep it industrial special permit but also do special permit um in commercial business instead of
changing industrial to by right and commercial business to buy right Not because I think it would be bad but just because um it is a serious um business and I know that the uh company that has put this forth is very good with their
border health regulations and um their reputation is wonderful but that doesn't mean that every single one of them will be and I think that that would be the only reason to make sure it's special permit I also would say that another um tattooing thing that could come in to
town from this which would be interesting is um like a micro blading Have you guys heard of that all right Well if you look at like your TV a lot you'll see that the actors are starting to have like tattooed eyebrows and stuff like that That that would be something maybe that could come in to like Tikas
or you know some place like that Maybe they could um generate more uh income from something like that it would you know what I mean so um I don't have a problem with this bylaw at all I actually think that the board of health
and you can tell me if I'm incorrect on this or something but I think the board of health would probably have a lot to do with it anyways So really getting a special permit from the planning board might be a little bit overstepping on
this Like I I would say that the board of health would probably be doing regular inspections and things of that So like I said I went to agree with you but yeah I mean I I I just I just threw that out there I I I think it special premise probably overregulating it We
either allow and we don't allow right uh so I I I probably vote for it at town meeting and all we're doing is really going to vote on whether we recommend it as it's written or we can try to amend it on the floor Right But I I mean I can I could
certainly be comfortable enough saying you know I I support it even without any kind of special permit provision I think too uh my own opinion you know back in the day you know all that there was you heard all the horror stories about uh
yeah the hepatitis and everything else coming from the needle and and and whatnot but I understand updated version of all of that that really cracked down on that kind of stuff And uh I'm sure it's got to be crazy regulated you know by the
board of health or or or whatever But uh I I do uh I do see your point It's uh I mean you go through any town or whatever and and yeah they're everywhere They're all over the place It's not like uh I like to say it's an accepted
business Uh yeah Well you know you can because it is Yeah Yep Now whether or not I don't know that specifically if they've referred to it but uh I know a lot of the other places the tattoo places they include piercings and all that other stuff I don't know if that's
if it's like state regulated that all comes under under one you know universal license They they have to be licensed Good question But if you think about it as far as a business goes it's just
another business It's the regulation end of it and all of that would be regulated and I have to believe it's the board of health So it really wouldn't have much to do with the Yeah Exactly Other than you know restrict well I'm sure there's restrictions on on getting rid of the
equipment and the needles and the like the dentist's office or the health health company that's going into they have to clean they have to use certain disinfectants Yeah So would we even talk about maybe making
sure um over the next couple of weeks that body art establishment might be able to allow them to do the piercing part without having to come back i don't I don't think we I mean the bylaw is written the way it is right do you think that's too big of a change to add that i
you could do that on town meeting floor right but I would talk to the proponent first to see what their attitude was about it But you know I I mean I think it's separate from what we're doing here We're just looking at this article Do we support it do we not support it As it's
written Yeah And I like it as it like I I actually do like what the only thought that I was thinking is exactly what you said I mean that was just a knee-jerk reaction from me and then I thought about it some more Yeah Well yeah But but then maybe we should find out whether or not that does allow that
because it or if they even need a special thing to do piercings because that would be a really great thing for them to have as part of but we can only work on what's in front of us What's in front of us but we could bring it to their attention but we still have to get this done for the 21 days Right So Right
No I understand that I I wasn't meaning leaving the hearing open but I was meaning could we find out whether or not that would happen so that we know just out of curiosity you know Anyway that was that Um okay So does anybody want to
take an action on this one we have Hold on one second Anybody No other comments or anything i want to open up to Oh yeah Right right right Yes sir If you could come up and No if if this thing's only in Could you come up to the mic please so we can Sorry about that Thank you It's me again Chris Gley Um if this
thing's only in industrial right now and they're trying to get it into commercial zoning Now you guys are going through this metamorphosis with dual uh zoning down into residential also No Well aren't you going commercial and
residential dual purposes only for housing For what only for housing You can build a single family residence on a commercial lot But you can't put a business on a residential wall But this will they will
they try to get that into a customary home business with the change of the times Now it will only be in the commercial business district to answer that Like so there's a chart I can show it to you if you would like Um I could see some mother I also know from past
experience as far as uh customary home occupations go that state laws specifies specific businesses that qualify as a customary home occupation Lawyers accountants they can have a business a
customary home out of their out of their homes Seamstress Uh there's there's bunch of different ones Classic hairdressers Classic So just to automatically say yes it's a customary home occupation That can't happen You
did say studio then that says studio That's I think more or less question Every I mean if you're it's like intermingling what you were talking about but that's really exclusive of what we're dealing with Exactly What would you call it a we're making a
zoning change here that that can or cannot happen independent of what this is Oh I see what you're saying So you're saying because we which isn't added yet but it
was taken away from the home occupation and studio Now if we brought that back into that then you're commercial and residential So out of industrial into commercial what's going to stop the
trans they would have have to do another bylaw change to make it so that we would vote to see whether or not it was in the residence allowed in the residence area Of course if unless the state changes it and demands that we do it Yeah that's a
town meeting Yeah all right Thank you So thank you Anybody else all right uh as a what do you what do you think you uh you want to you want to leave it and vote on it just the way it is or do you want to we we can only vote on it the
way it is that's right we can amend it on town meeting floor but so there is just as an FYI a letter of support for the zoning bylaw amendment from Kim Sturge um that was sent in and is right here I don't know if we should read it
into record where it was given to us a public hearing yes please if you wouldn't I I am reading a letter into record that was received on March 11th um at the town clerk's office letter of support for zoning bylaw amendment to the Halifax select board and town clerk from
Kim Sturge um March 10th 2025 I guess we received it March 11th Dear Halifax select board and town clerk I am writing as a longtime resident of Halifax to request that the town consider updating its zoning bylaws to allow tattoo studios and commercial zones rather than
limiting them to the industrial zones Tattooing has truly transformed over the past few decades As a client and tattoo collector I've personally witnessed the shift in the public's perception of the art form over the years The old stereotype of tattoo shops being linked
to a biker or tough guy image is now a thing of the past As tattooing has gained popularity a fresh wave of artists and clients have elevated industry standards and ting tattooing into a respected form of art and
expression Today studios are professional and inviting spaces where clients can receive custom highquality artwork My husband and I have been getting tattooed by Henry for 10 years and I've seen the love and care that he and his wife have put into Broad Street
Tattoo They have been active community members sponsoring local events and charities hosting art shows and organizing fundraisers for environmental and social causes After 24 years their 18th century building in downtown
Bridgewater is being sold and may undergo a lengthy renovation forcing them to find a new home for their beloved shop It doesn't make sense that the tattoo studios are still treated worse other businesses like hair or nail
salons liquor stores or even the marijuana dispenser we now have in town Given the changes since 2001 it seems only reasonable to update Halifax zoning regulations to reflect the modern reality of the industry
Okay Just for the record the applicant the person the shop the owner really is is irrelevant to this totally to this whole conversation Totally That's all right Why well I was trying to hurry you a bit
Okay So uh what is the pleasure of the board we should uh again we have the option we should uh close the public hearing and then we can open up the hearing and vote if you want to vote on this tonight or do you want to uh
wait till uh I don't have a problem voting tonight It's up to you up to you Okay So you want to close the hearing first yes Okay Everybody's all set right okay Um I um motion motion Thank you Motion to close
the public hearing for um the tattoo and general bylaws There's a motion on the floor Do I have a second second It's a motion and a second to uh close the uh public hearing on the uh the bylaw uh
review of body establishment of tattoos as permitted use of right in the commercial zone I'll ask for a voice vote Uh Amy we're just closing the hearing right yes For closing Closing the hearing Yes Yes I I vote yes Tom yes
And Rick yes Okay Motion passes unanimously Okay Uh now what is the uh pleasure of the board i'll make a motion that the board support the article as presented at town
meeting We might want to be specific You mean the tattoo one right the tattoo article Yes Which is Did they assign an article number to it i believe they did petition for the article
No No they did not It's just under B review It's probably on the warrant We just don't have it Yeah cuz the warrant's already should All right So the planning board Yeah support the petition for the amendment to the body
art bylaw or tattoo as a permitted use by a permitted use by right in the commercial zone and to change the designation for industrial requiring a special permit
to as of right I'll second thought that I think I got it all I think so Does uh let me ask you this Uh do you feel we put anything in there about as being in stipulation as far as uh we can't change the article you're right But what were
you going to say you know that it complies you know with any state requirement for medical inspections they'll have to Or is that just automatic yeah if they did that Okay So I uh I do have a uh a motion and
a and a second on the floor Uh I'm going to ask for a voice vote Rick yes Uh Tom yes Amy yes For the tattoo Yeah Yes For the tattoo And uh I'm going to vote no But it passes The board recommends it Uh
for town meeting we recommend it I'm gonna I should have guessed that one That Brendan would have voted yes Good point Good point Well we can point at you at town meeting though He voted no
I'm sorry It happened to the best Okay let's move right on to appointments now Uh we'll continue with PSPR-25-2 350A industrial drive site plan review Mr to nuke him Sir you want to uh Aren't Aren't you glad you came
early Um Rick I think you have the new plan sitting next to you See them thanks Or I think they are They're a new plan correct yes Okay It has all the stuff you asked for the last meeting That's
what that was my next question I' I'd like to go through the uh the list from uh uh PGB uh engineering You have one of these Amy Yeah I need Thank you Uh he listed up uh under under comments if
uh anybody want to look around We have a couple extras if anybody wants to Might as well right want to give that And there's an extra uh it's Brendan's
Brendan Okay Do Do you have a copy of that a big one No no no A copy of Pat Brennan's from the uh peer review Yeah you guys gave me it when I first got here Yep Okay I received this today Okay
I made a copy of it when we first started tonight All right Well starting at the bottom at the very bottom of the page that's the first one Uh the zone zoning bylaw as of 167-28 G3 requires submission plan submission of a
plan showing characteristics of all lands within 300 ft of the parcel The uh locust map does not include the details required by the bylaw Yeah I got a small one right here This is the same one she put in our
packet too Um yes Yeah So so you have copies So some of them are missing Yes He's going to need it when he puts the foundation on Some of them are missing What do you mean some the names some are what down here Oh okay But the ones on the
top are and then across the street right is that what within 300 ft of the property right so that would be a locust map right which is at the top right that 300 the actual names of your neighbors So on if you're looking at this map on the south side of it if you will there's
names of the people that have bought you But on the top one Oh wait a minute Yeah On the top right of the map The top the top right there Yep And then across the street there's none Oh it's within 300 ft That's way more than 300 ft on that map
So I don't know if your engineer missed that but it's right there Across the across the street would be across the street Close 300 It's lot line to lot line So listen it's it's just about the bylaw not not trying to be picky It's just add
I'm just stating what I see That's all Yeah No no I understand Especially when he turns around and he he quotes the uh the zoning bylaw Yeah you know it's fine Okay You going number two on the second page plans of the proposed building should be submitted So do we have actual
plans of the building i gave you that last meeting The interiors it requires renderings and plans of all buildings and structures Yeah the outside the outside they gave me like um Do you have the stuff I gave you last
time or No unfortunately we don't have that file here Okay Well it's in there Um I haven't I haven't um bought the building yet because I don't have a building permit yet They'll give me the plans for the building when I have a building per I won't want to buy the building when I don't have a building
permit Oh you mean the plans to buy the building so yes So those are the ones off of their um website of what the building would look like the structure of the plans Yeah those are the plans I gave you last time Okay So we'll have to dig up that file for the next meeting
Okay Um that makes sense Number three send it to Pat Yeah Yeah Go ahead Yeah it's got to go to Pat I would think Yeah Danielle can we send um the building plans i know but she'll hear us when she's listening to the meeting Um that's my
idea of a note Um can you please send the um architectural plans or the drawings of the plans to Pat Brennan for review please thank you Uh number three we've never seen these before I don't want to be
redundant but the zoning bylaw 16728 G42 requires that proposed topography be shown on the plan Uh the plan only shows existing topography except for the proposed drainage basin So um Mr Bernan
needs all that Uh number four uh G4 section 7 requires that the access and facilities of all structures and uses be shown including trash disposal facilities This is what he's looking for G48 requires that the proposed water
supply for the proposed buildings be shown uh G49 uh and uh H3 required drainage calculations to demonstrate zero increase in runoff for a 25-year storm under proposed conditions That's huge Uh
number seven uh G4-11 So this does have You're going way too fast for me I'm still on the first one That's what I'm saying This is if if obviously you haven't even had a chance to do all this right and it has to be included I'm I'm write I'm reading it so it goes into the record so that uh um Mr
Brennan knows that it's going to be coming from the applicant to his attention because the grade the grade are on here Yeah the existing topos are on here The existing topos are on here He wants to propose So he's asking for it but it's on there This you want to
propose He's saying proposing the basin I think he said he only had proposed for the basin and not the rest of it If I remember that is what it said I remember what I read now I can't find it I just Except for the proposed It's number three Oh number
three Uh I think what you requires that the proposed topography be shown on the plan The proposed topography The plan only shows existing topography except for the proposed drainage basement So it's like meaning like what is it going
to look like after it's built like not changing the grade Okay So then I guess so it's just got to show it So this is this is the actual notes on the plan right exactly Or one of those seven layer um plans that show
now and tomorrow Correct Yeah Like why we could do one that says proposed plan I can show Does that make sense is that is that I mean he could do it all the chose that's the elevation That's the elevation That's the elevation Yeah I
totally do I mean like show it again stating that that's what going to be the final elevations like so I understand they are going to be but this is final elevation So a note on the plan then that that's what I'm suggesting that they will be the bottom line and it say so you want to have it say existing and
when it's the same elevation Yeah Just exactly what he's asking Does that make sense the bottom line and it's easy for me to spend your money You really need to take it back with that letter to your engineer Oh I'm going to I'm going to hand this right to him and he's going to go "Yeah this is here That's there What
do they want?" That's how it usually happens when it comes back from uh uh from Mr Brennan It it goes back to the engineer and he uh I understand And he said item number one check Done Item number two and then puts the answer to
what it what Mr Brennan is asking about So that's uh other than just reading it in into the uh into the record it's easier just to say "Thanks a lot what I see as we're reading it That's all Um number eight a test hole is required at
the location of proposed drainage basin to verify soil texture and depth to seasonal high groundwater Nine proposed sizes and type of drain pipe should be specific on the plan Uh number 10 proposed catch basin should be
specified to have deep deep sumps and gas trap hoods 11 The proposed surface covered behind the north and between the proposed buildings should be specified on the plans 12 Some of the existing pavement will need to be removed for for
construction of the larger proposed building The limit of pavement removal uh should be shown on the plan 13 The area of proposed disturbance uh will be closed to a 1acre threshold for applicability under the storm water management bylaw Webby should provide
the area of proposed disturbance Please give us a call should you have any questions Very truly yours Uh Patrick G Brennan So that's the message His phone number Hear the thing I'm sorry I said he didn't leave his phone number I can
get it was a joke Okay Light You were going to say something at um proposed It's been a long night Proposed catch basin should be specified to have deep sumps and gas trap hoods I feel like you were going to say something on that one Yeah you would
need details You would need that for the ones inside the building I don't think you need those for outside drainage If he asks he wants them I don't know how else to explain it to you Mr Bailey
also our uh uh former building inspector for site plan review buildings seem to be in the appropriate zone Individual use of the building may require further relief dependent upon what type of business will occupy them once built
which seems similar to Kleds next door I know during our previous meeting you had spoken about they're just going to be used for storage Your vehicles Yeah Yeah The vehicles Yep Uh Peggy Salter from the board of health Border health needs further narrative description information What are the two buildings
going to be how many bathrooms are there in each building uh what is the total design flow the installed system holds 800 gallons per day Uh Caitlyn Put who's the uh I believe she's the conservation agent According to uh Mass Mapper and
the provided site plan it does not appear that the work is taking place within 100 ft of the wetlands So and the uh the deputy uh police chief uh uh Theodore Benner has no concerns or comments at this time So
I would I would suggest doing just that getting a hold of Mr Webbby Uh bring back he usually he's usually very thorough Goes right down the list 1 2 3 4 5 check check This is what we did This is what it is It's Yeah And if he has to give you another detail then just
prepare another Not a problem He's very good like that Yep If I were you I'd get a fire truck sweep too because the 12 ft between the um existing building and one of the new buildings Just run that by the fire department because I don't know if they can get through there 10 ft So
Okay Well well I'm just saying run it by them Have them do it all because Yeah You're better to get it done up front than to deal with it later So what do I need to do go to the fire department Just show them this Yeah show net That's all This is enough for him Actually you know
what we'll do it Danielle can you please send this um site plan over to the fire department so they can verify the sweep thank you very much I would recommend you do it that way if there's any interaction any conversation you're there Yeah you're right So fire chief
Yeah Okay Mike what's his name mike Withers Yes Nice question So he's not going to get a fire truck in between the two buildings I mean but that's the the law's 10 ft So that's why we're going by the law So it doesn't matter if he says no or yes I don't think the law is 10 ft for
combustibility It isn't necessarily for fire access That's why you need to talk to him just to make sure he's cool He needs to be able to sweep around the building He might even want to figure out how he's going to sweep through these And it would be good for you to know Now not like sweep like with a
broom but like the rotating of the truck The 10 ft is fire separation Yeah Yeah This is a different because we have gone through that before with turning radiuses and all that fun stuff Exactly Okay So do I'm just going to write it down
exactly what you want me to ask the fire chief So I just show him the plan See if he has any comments We're doing that too Um just continue to Well what are the dates again on this show him plan I don't know what is it after this one
Oh I have the application right here Hold on Oh no This is That's That's the next um Do you remember what day you applied for this not off the top of my head No Well let's
just do an extension We don't need When was our first meeting well I know the 30 days was going to be up between our first April meeting and now So we're getting dangerously close So if we extend it tonight 30 45 days when you guys Yeah Just Just Yeah Will you get
give us an extension for site plan of 45 days so that we can make sure that everything gets done another 45 days We're not We might not use it all We just need to make it have to have an extension out of our process How long
does it usually take 30 I'm asking just you want to do a 30 and then if we need more go from there When's the next meeting can we do that on May 1st Yeah But we just need to make sure that we have an extension because we think that we're dangerous Here's our dilemma If we don't do a an extension we have to give you a no Yeah And that wipes you out for
two years Okay So yeah I want an extension I mean that's easy question So okay Thank you Thank you So it you can even if we gave you So we'll just do a 30-day extension to make you feel comfortable and then we'll we might need to readress
it at the next meeting depending Is that okay yeah it's fine So all right I'm going to make a motion to um Yeah Extend PSP25-2 350A industrial drive site plan review for 30 days
There's a motion on the floor to extend uh second the motion and a second Uh all those in favor to uh approve the extension say I I I Unanimous You could very well And in the meantime yeah you can get this done real
quick Yeah No Well that's fine Yep Yeah So May 1st is the next meeting So that's my next meeting May 1st Yep Yep Okay And then if you sign this that would be fantastic It's signing your entire life away Um just right
here Thank you And we'll sign it all now And you can take a picture of it if you want or I can make a copy in the other room if you prefer Today is the 17th of April Thank you
Bart Okay we'll we'll all sign it and give you a copy Okay Well actually the it's um you did it in your name not Nukem's right the petition Did you write okay So some of this needs to be filled in but
um I don't have the May 1st 7:00 Thank you We tried to get you out of here before the hearing but um we weren't allowed to based on hearing Sorry Yeah we had to hang out all night
Okay let's go into uh other business said they'll probably take you before the hearings You don't have to be there full day They would have done that except that we specifically said the hearing started at 7:00 for that Gota Yeah that's why Sorry Let's um move
right into 25-3 539 Plymouth Street Second plan review submitted on 416 That's you guys are up Did you want this in just so uh in mind just for information
for the uh planning board uh the applicant here has already been to the zoning board of appeals Uh it was a uh commercial business allowed in the commercial district and that's basically what he went to the uh
went to the zoning board for Uh sorry man This was uh submitted on uh 41625 Uh so my question to the board is uh I don't this hasn't been advertised or anything I guess or we just going to
discuss it Is that what we're doing or Yeah we're going to discuss because I talked to put a health now Um um what's the girl name conservation Cool Um conservation maybe Sir can I have your name please and your address please
summer around uh 539 Plymouth Street I'm looking to put a nursery and plant some plants over there And I went to the the other zone and they sent me over here What I'm trying to do I I might need an engineer plan right now I want to have I
don't know if you guys have this uh Okay by the way this uh 359 uh we have the last time I moved 539 I moved the shed from the front because I have like 300 square foot shed in there Uh when I go to do inspector like I did it small so I
don't need to go through more process You know what I mean and I did a 300 square foot shed First I put in the front on with the post office Now I move it like so in the middle of the bushes so be attacked to the street or look better too And I put where the post
office is I put some big green ginus I I know it's already buffered there but I put some green ginas to kind of block so nobody can see the beans and everything So everybody knows 539 Plymouth Street is this is the uh Bossworth House directly across the street from uh the
police station from the police station So if you're standing on the front stairs and looking on the police station and living on Plymouth Street the house would be almost directly in front of you This is the lot beside it between the house and the post office and police car on the post office side of the street
right are you aware that this is I believe it's in the historical district if I'm not mistaken I have that right here Hold on I I'm pretty sure it is I think it is too now that you mention it Yes it goes from uh from 105 uh the Basile property all the way up to
Kleti's kitchen Yeah Yeah Oh that's when you hear that Um the only thing that would probably be the issue is how the shed looks Um but how many feet back is the shed now um before I have about 50 ft I can put you guys tell
me if you guys want the shed to be 60 ft No I I think the the thing I don't think it's a big deal Yeah But you're going to have to talk to the historical people Um I don't know if you get your haircut here in town but John the Barber is on the historical commission
Uh if if the building was further back than 300 ft then there wouldn't be any I'll put 300 ft But you know you may not have to but I I wanted to go easy on this as I can If I have to go 300 ft I'll go 300 ft Well I'm I'm I'm not telling you that's going to be a problem
I mean you have a shed I mean unless you just like really outrageous talking about 300 ft 300 ft Yeah And I can make it nice as you guys want I'm open to Saxton I put the driveway there so I don't have to we don't have to cut the curb No special permit is is 40 ft
entrance We got about close to 65 to 80 where the crosswalk is Yeah And across the street they have two entrance like one one side one on the other side I going to have that one but big enough Yeah So cars can come in and out And and now it's going to be on gravel I'm not going to put recycled asphalt I'm going
to use 3/4 stone to drain the water Then this why comes to conservation They want she wants to mean to make plan with the she say depends on the media tonight Depends on the media tonight You might have to make a plan with the with um the
engineer did this engineer You see I have Yes I have this when he did it like as a commercial Oh yeah Uh you know what I mean then if I have to do it I'll do it I I try not to but um we have everything there you know but um that's
all it is Yeah Um yeah this thing's been configured in a bunch of different ways That's why when they were trying to sell it they have all kinds of configurations and I'll do everything you guys tell me I don't want the shed here I want the shed like four I'm not saying you have
that I'm just saying this why I put it but just because it's in the historical district you have to at least talk to them And I have the other one who look the other way The shadows on the other side and I say "You know what let me put it on the side of the house on the middle of the
bushes." So So yeah No I get it I get it That's a very busy So what is this place a nursery you know wherever You're just basically going to have some so many green houses Yes Yeah I'm going to plant some plants in the back and I'm going to do some big plants on the front You know
what I mean what are you going to have besides uh plants what else are you going to be selling uh gravel I might sell mulch I don't know yet I might not I We have to see something And And then
And then what just mulch gravel and flowers plants Uh small flowers No no no small flowers just like bushes and shrubs Shrubs you know what I mean more like shrubs for cuz
Nasarella's down the street with the small flowers I don't want to like put a small flower something he has I pro what I can do is I can buy from him and put it in mine You see what I'm saying yeah Because he's got the greenhouse Yes Because I don't want to I don't want to because he's in the town for so many years You know what I mean and he sell
the flowers You know what I mean um I want to sell like bushes big bushes And if I need the flowers I might as well just get it from him the mulch I'm depends I want to talk to him and see I want to put mulch through but I might see what me him come out with some kind of because I kind of need it because I'm
doing nursery You know what I mean but we'll see All right So what do we need from this gentleman for our next meeting site plan Yeah A site plan with a stamp on it Yep Site plan with a stamp on it But you should um course the building inspector is not here anymore Um Tuesday
he's the interim is coming Tuesday Okay I just met him this afternoon What I was getting at is you need to review the bylaw to see how the historical district applies to you I'm pretty sure you're going to have to talk to him at least Um Yeah he will Oh you've talked to Ed
Bailey Yeah Only today or tomorrow was his last day But so he won't be here tomorrow Yeah Okay So this is an assessor's map right well no This is actually this is actually done by Webbby This is Yeah I Yeah
that's only wherever did this map has Wherever did this map and I did that with landscape architect design Oh wow You're good Yes Yeah She his name is right there That's what he did for me Okay Yeah But if I need a webbby I need a webbby But
well the I think that the reasoning would be that we need storm water management conservation No but that's why I'm okay to go through the conservation That's why conservation sent me to talk to you guys and I can you guys can say okay but you have to go
through conservation parking you're not paving anything So that's no that that's huge Yes And I'm not doing parking for a business and yeah it has to be reviewed Yep Oh yeah Yeah Lighting He's got parking I have I have
lighting You added the tree sense the other night on the side You see this why I did that Yeah Let me This why I did this here This is I add this in It's already a buffer there but I add this in So buffers more where the pocket space is going to be I can see that difference And then I I changed the shed to be here
So that way nobody's talking about now Now I'm like the house is here Okay If we can put she can put a shed behind this house I see Then I move the shed kind of the side of the house behind here That's like maybe
60 ft off the street right electricity plumbing Is it going to be bathroom no no no It's going to be paired It's a hu I put here porta bathroom and electrician She already has a post from the city on the on the land kind of next to it I'm going to have that one run and
I'm going to ask for electric for one more post on equity here too Do you have copies of these do you mind if I take copies you can have it You can have it We have to put all that on a plan So yes Yeah that's got to be all on a plan Yes So you can tell me if I need a head or
no need because this is landscape architect design I can have him do me the train He he know how to do the train system if we need it But this is something so you need to do like a full site plan You went to a local engineer and you said stamped It's got to be
stamped Okay But I was just going to go a little further I thought it might help them So if you go there and you say that you need a site plan then they'll do everything that they that is necessary for a site plan Um that one just Yeah Yeah Yeah You can use that as a guide
Yeah exactly But it'll um Well we have to see measurements from like measurements Okay Well it's going to be the scale too Yeah The engineer will know exactly all the stuff that you need
So site plan requirements start here And if you want do you have a phone that you can take a picture of that or I can make you a copy Webby No correct If I go to No you can Yeah I'll help you You know what I mean because he's already know the plan and everything Yeah Well he's So he's going
to know But if So if you just say we need Yeah I'm just going to go He knows our bylaw So he if you give him just that without going through cuz there's more pages of the bylaw Yes But he'll know So just say I need a site plan to go in front of the uh planning board Yes What's the next day i can
So once he makes the plan and you fill out an application with the building department then you can get on to our next meeting after that I'm sorry I have to go back to because I already went to building Well yeah So he's going to help you Well actually the planning board um
secretary and somebody will help you fill out the site plan application Yes Or Joe Webbby might Joe probably So yeah they they'll help you through that process I think it's just the same one I just filled out for this one Correct Ju just just to be clear you don't have to
use Webbby but where he's done the work that would be the smart move I think Yes Yeah I'm just pushing I'm not pushing an engineer I I didn't think it were There's tons of engineers I know but he knows the plan
quicker for me Yeah I agree I just didn't want to make it sound like you had to go Right I was going to say um so he'll help you So you filled out an application Oh Oh Yeah Yes I already did So so so we're on the
clock We're on the clock Why not be on the clock if we haven't if it hasn't been Well it isn't We don't have everything we need but we're on the clock No but it hasn't been uh proposed put on newspaper Has it been
Well that doesn't happen cuz I No it doesn't I did for I did for the for the I send Blist for everybody in town Yeah that that was because of conservation Yeah Yep I sent a b list what I'm doing I speak before before I went to here I
went to the other meeting the other day I sent a list for everybody I notify everybody on the table All right I guess let's take it Yeah Um um you should talk talk to the um I'll
get soon as I can I just need like I need a date to come back and I'll make We can put you on the agenda for the 1st of May right yep Moment to make a motion That might not be enough time but we can put you on for the If not can you reschedu yep Yeah I appreciate it Yep
Um talk to the building inspector secretary and find out how to contact the historical commission Well when we send the site plan that he produces send it out But I was going to say if he gets to them quicker he can kind of speed the process up a little bit So this this
started ticking yesterday so we're not far along in Yeah I'm just making sure everybody's aware for his sake to kind of speed it up a little I just have to go back to her and see like the story where how Yeah Just how do you contact that Okay
Okay Okay Thank you You're very welcome We'll see you on May 1st May 1st Yeah You want a motion i'll make a motion to have SP I move we put uh we reschedule this uh to the 1st of May at our next
regular schedule PSPR-25-3539 Plymouth Street for site plan review what she said pending pending plans being in our possession that are okay have a motion on the floor do I have a second I'll second it a motion and a second uh call for voice
vote uh Amy yep myself Yes Tom Yes And uh Rick Yes Uh passes unanimous Ju just for clarity you are the owner right um no the owner is not here today but she she's pregnant Okay I brought those
together the other day Okay I I just wanted to clear that up because I wasn't sure what we were doing here Okay Last uh item uh meeting minutes for uh Thursday May March 20th 2025
Uh I looked through it myself but I don't have any changes corrections additions or deletions Anybody else have anything to add or I was okay with it You good Rick you good i haven't even gotten to read them because I was concentrating
on reading the zoning bylaws Okay But you know All right I'll ask for a motion then regarding the minute meetings of Thursday March 20th 2025 as presented Moved A second Second All right Uh call
for voice vote Uh Rick Mary yes Tom yes Myself yes And Amy abstain Okay Passes three to zero to one Bingo
I'll make a motion to adjourn I have a motion on the floor to adjurnn Do I have a second second A motion and a second All those in favor say I I Thank you people I'm going to make a motion