um today's February 19 2025 as a preliminary matter this is Woody Knight chair of the Newbury planning board permit me to confirm that all members in person anticipated on the agenda are present and can hear me planning board members when I call your
name please respond in the affirmative Peter posos yes Larry Murphy yes Mary Stone yes Scott Kenta yes and Steve manangan yes okay
thank you guys nice to see you hardwork and town staff when I call your name please respond the affirmative Kristen grubs playing director yes Daniel Loro assistant planner yes
and Matha Tay spe special projects planner yes hello everyone all right introduction to the remote meeting good evening February 19 2025 open meeting of the newy planning board is being conducted remotely
consistent with the chapter 2 of the acts of 2023 which extends the governor's March 12th 2020 order suspending certain provisions of the open meeting LOD GL 30820
until March 31st 2025 for this meeting the new planning board is convening by video conference via Zoom as posted on the planning board's agenda which can be found on the town's
website you may join by going to http semicolon zoom. us and entering meeting ID number 83271 401 3056 passcode
10879 or by calling 1 1929 205 6099 us and entering the meeting ID number and passcode when prompted please note that this meeting is being recorded in that
members and attendees are participating by video and or telephone conference the meeting is also being broadcast live through local access Channel C uh cable channel 99 on zoom and at
www.tn cv. org and the recording will be available on the new access YouTube channel meeting business ground rules before we turn on the first item on the agenda permit me to cover some ground rules for Effective and clear conduct of our business and to ensure accurate
meeting minutes as chair I will introduce each speaker on the agenda after speakers conclude their remarks I will go down the list of board members inviting each by name to provide any comment questions or
motions the meeting tonight includes a public hearing for the zoning amendments for annual town meeting at 7:15 the clerk will read the legal notice then there will be a presentation of slides followed by an opportunity for planning board members to
speak after board members have spoken I'll afford the public an opportunity to comment and or ask questions I will seek questions and comments through the zoom raised hand function in the order in which the people click on the raised hand
button finally each vote is T taken in this meeting will be conducted by roll call vote all right so the first thing on the agenda tonight is uh meeting minutes has everyone had the opportunity
to go through the meeting minutes yes very good see nods anyways um does anyone have any um Corrections or comments on the meeting minutes hearing none I will take I will
entertain a motion to approve the meeting minutes for February 5th 2025 I'll move to approve second second thank you Larry thank you
Mary uh roll call vote Peter yes Larry yes Mary yes Scott yes and Steve yes all right and the chair votes yes as
well get some meeting minutes approved for February 5th 2025 all right next thing on the agenda is uh liaison and meeting reports first we have uh Larry for zba yeah thanks Woody actually the zba
is meeting in person tonight at 7:30 at Town Hall um uh the is one item on the agenda that might uh come before the planning board it's uh actually two petitions for variances for 11 and 15 Sunset Drive on
the island uh these are two ab budding Lots if in fact the variances are granted then we uh will likely see an an a anr plan readjusting the lot lines between those two two lots but that's all I
have okay thank you Larry um next is Conservation Commission that would be me uh conservation met last night we had a few things on the agenda the K Island thing was up again that's an interesting project they're
doing there but as far as uh anything that pertains to the planning board I don't recall anything on the agenda that pertains to planning board so um that like I said that can Island think is an interesting project but um that is a
continued let's continue to our next meeting um Kristen um mvpc yep um so neither mvpc Commissioners Regional group nor the
planners Regional group met in January they uh they both have meetings coming up the Commissioners meeting is tomorrow um I think on the agenda is um some budget stuff a couple new hir they have a new hire in their GIS
Department as well as um a New Economic Development planner who I actually had a a zoom you know hello meet and greet and talk about Economic Development goals of Newberry um as an introduction a week
and a half ago and she's fantastic so definitely interested in small business growth and being a resource and we talked about some ways to um you know connect she had reviewed the newberry's master plan already which was
great um so definitely got some ideas flowing in terms of that just in general um discussion of what the economic development needs are for Newberry um so Commissioners meet tomorrow and then the regional planners group uh meets next
Thursday and I believe on that agenda is um a representative from the um like office of Finance the operational services for the state so they're going to be talking about um State contracts and sort of best
practices in terms of procurement and things like that so I I'll be interested to learn a few things I'm sure um at that meeting next week very good that's it um and that leads us to the next item
on the agenda uh the planers report all right um we've been doing a lot of preparation for today um as you all know we've um engaged all of you in our public hearing tonight um and just
special thanks to Martha who's put in a lot of hours and bringing forward some of the zoning amendments um so a lot of work on that front um um couple other interesting meetings I um joined a
regional discussion about affordable housing that was held in Newport this morning um the NorthShore home Consortium is a uh federally funded um affordable
housing program that's actually run it's managed out of the city of pey um it's been around a long time I don't think Newbery has been um super involved in it uh so I'm trying to learn a little more
um I want to talk some more with Martha and with Tracy about the history of that group and see I think they have um they set fiveyear action plans in terms of priorities in terms of supporting affordable housing throughout the region
and I think communities get a certain amount of funds based on a formula if they are members of the home Consortium and then there are also competitive grants that um you can sort of connect with private developers to access
additional funding they get certain allocations from the um in terms of their budget every year so there's some questions about the funding um now and into the future but in general it was
just a really robust conversation there representatives from rally West Newberry Newberry Port um Andy Port Newberry Port planner and then some other representatives of affordable housing trust funds in those communities and just a good they were sort it was a
listening session about what the needs are in the region and for specifical specific communities um and as they develop their action plan over the next couple months there will be more um public meetings and OPP opportunities
for people to review the action plan and you know chime in on on sort of different priorities so it was good to make the connection with that group and I I'll keep you all posted on what else I learned um that's probably about it for
now um we've got some updates on permitting projects um that'll be on the agenda at our next agenda March 5th um and nothing new there you know been
some inquiries there's some properties on the market now that we've had some inquiries about but um in general we've been pretty focused on getting these zoning amendments ready to go for town meeting very good thank you
Kristen I have U 712 our public hearing starts at 7:15 so unless anyone has anything or if Larry's got his jokebook handy I I've misplaced it Woody I yeah I
know you threatened us with my bad dad jok's book has been misplaced I'm sorry you're sitting on it Larry you're sitting on maybe he threatened it with it many time so well Woody since we have a couple minutes what's uh tell us about this Kent Island uh project that's going on
through conservation right now um it's the state the state owns Kent Island and U I believe it's DCR and um uh I in the state um fish and wildlife and they're uh they they've
got some stands of trees out there that are were planted back in the day and so they want to harvest some trees they want to um this five stands of fresh water on the island and they've
got some invasive uh species of weeds um that they want to get rid of and they have H frag mes too on the edges of the msh they part of the plan but that's in the future but they really want to uh clean up around the
freshwater for the invasive species and they have a forestry plant and they also have um permit gotten permitted through the fire dep actually a controlled burn there so they that was another method that they want to use on
the I believe on the edges of the property and um they they're still working on their application they've got a few things to fine tuned there and we were supposed to go on a s sidewalk but that was the day it snowed pretty good so we didn't attend the S sidewalk so
there's more to come with it but um It's seems like a neat project and they they really just want to maintain K Island and get it back up to Snuff and like I said they there's some forestry management practices that they want to
do and get the cut some Timber off the island so all in all it seems like a good project and it's just a matter of uh getting it permitted getting it going and getting getting it through the process so they can continue on with
what they want to do then so and if I might have missed some something about it as well but that's to my knowledge that's off the top of my head that's what's going on there just you know with the trail maintaining in the invasive species and they've got a
they've also on the island they've got three or four fields that still get farmed by a local farmer out there so it's good that there's still farming practices going on on the on K Island because it it's has been going on since I was a kid and it's very important but
it was quite a property back in its day I'm not sure how the state acquired it but um it's now in the state's hands it's open to the public and it's just a neat neat place to go and Walky dogs and check out I we used to Camp there boy
scouts when I was a kid so I enjoy I enjoy that track to land there what do you is there anyone who is U the point person for this on conservation um no just uh there's a I
can't remember I believe his name is Ben he's from the state and we've been talking with him trying to guide him through getting the getting everything um the applications and the maps of what they want to do there into US proper because uh right
now it's kind of not on a napkin but just there's a few things missing in in their cling so once they get that through we'll go on the sidewalk and we'll get a full understanding what they want to do there it's kind of hard not putting eyes on it
you know they show us maps and stuff but they they gota they get some things that they still got to present to us so thanks Woody thanks yeah thank you and that brings us to 7:15 that hot
air um so it's 7:15 we'll open the public hearing for the proposed zoning amendments for for the 2025 uh annual town meeting in uh Larry if you could would you please read the legal notice for the public hearing yeah
certainly uh town of Newbury planning board public hearing notice residents of the town of Newberry and other interested persons please note that on Wednesday February 19th 20125 at 7:15 p.m. the Newbury planning board will hold a public hearing remotely via
pursuant to mgl chapter 4A Section 5 to consider proposed amendments to the code of the town of uh Newbury chapter 97 zoning as follows General amendments to chapter 97 zoning which include administrative updates to the spelling
of terms such as bylaw and select board and authorizing creation of a table of contents Article 1 General Provisions section 97-1 A to revise the purpose of the intent Article 4 regulations of
overlay districts to revise section 974 e flood Hazard to comply with updated feema requirements in Associated flood maps effective July 8th 2025 article five special permits
General to update the title of Article Five from special permits General to special permits uh section 975 A1 to update General special permit Provisions in this article section 975 C open space
residential development to update certain Provisions section 975d common driveways to update Provisions in section 975 G registered marijuana dispensaries medmed marijuana
treatment centers in section 975 marijuana establishments to delete an update language article special regulations to add Provisions to section 979a site plan review regarding
decision criteria and conditions of approval article 10 General regulations Section 9710 C customary home occupations to add a provision regarding special permit requirements and to
replace section 9710 D um uh accessory apartments with a new section 9710 D accessory dwelling units in compliance with the requirements of the new Massachusetts affordable homes act article 11 Administration section 971a
enforcement to add Provisions regarding building permits section 971b zoning board of appeals to add a provision regarding variances section 9711 c special permit procedures public hearing to delete this section section
9711 D2 written definitions to revise delete and add definitions the text of the text of these proposed amendments are on file with the town clerk in the planning office 12 kentway Suite 210 Byfield Massachusetts and may be viewed on the
planning board section of the town's website at ttps backback www.town ofy.org back slpl dboard Backpages back SL
proposed Das zoning Das and- regulation D amendments for more information or to obtain a copy of the proposed amendments contact the planning office at 978 46586 to extension
336 in accordance with chapter two of the acts of 2023 which extends the governor's March 12 2020 order suspending certain provisions of the open meeting law general laws Chapter 30 a section 20 until March 31
2025 the hearing is being conducted remotely all persons interest that are wishing to be heard relative to the proposed zoning amendments are invited to participate in the hearing remotely at the designated time for their from their computer tablet or smartphone at
https colon backback us02 web. zoom. us j83 27141
3056 passcode 10879 or by telephone by calling 1 92925 6099 us and using meeting ID 83271 41356 or may watch the meeting live on
local access uh cable channel 9 at www.tn cv. org by night chair Newburg planning board and this notice was published in the newb report daily news on February 3rd and February 10th
2025 thank you Larry so there are two categories of proposed amendments state and federal updates and local initiative um Larry could I ask um Woody
could I ask a quick question yes for the benefit of of going ahead with all these items could could somebody please give those who are not on the planning board and not in uh in the government here or
any other place a a definition of requalification and you hear it and you understand what what it means but a definition would probably help those who are looking at it for the first first time and scratching their
heads English please do you want Lang is good go ahead MAA no I was just gonna say um don't know flarry wants to address this but he um there's actually going to be an explanation of that further on when we get to those specific um zoning articles
so would it be okay to do it then I I can take 20 seconds Martha if it help and in in a very larger sense Mary anytime you amend a bylaw it's a recodification of sorts okay looking at
in in the most broadest definition of the term what we're using it for here is an ongoing process to rectify the bylaw to make it more user friendly to correct uh you know for example we have some words in
it that we don't spell the same way like bylaw changing things like select board uh Board of selectman to select board um so it what this is it's an it's an ongoing process and I'm going over 20 seconds now been going on for several
years actually um uh to rectify the entire bylaw and make it more user friendly hopefully and uh Martha and and Kristen and Dan and Peter Benet the building inspector and um Town Council uh Lisa me have uh the current working
group for that and have put a lot of time and effort into it so when we're talking about in the context of this hearing when we're talking about recodification we're talking about that effort and as Martha said we'll get into it in more detail as we go no I understand but just heading to the
beginning of this uh meeting to be sure that people do understand that it isn't um it isn't uh town planning speak it is a a good way of describing it with an understanding that people don't know
what yeah no one's we're not trying to change the purpose of intent or intent of the bylaw you know no I know I know okay just to make it a little more internally consistent and and user friendly right and I was hoping this this isn't for me but it's for those who
are paying attention to this okay and I sorry that was seconds thanks thing relative to the slide that's being shared right now which is the the bylaw that we're all talking about the zoning
bylaw is also called the code right of the town of Newbery so that that actually is something I just talked to my husband about which is the recodification is addressing the code which is also
called a zoning bylaw so that was that's not always easy to understand in itself it's a good question Mary thanks guys yes thank you Mary and thank you Larry and Kristen the first time I heard rectification I wasn't
sure what it meant so I I could see others people of the public feeling the same way right um Pete would you would you like to say something I would and and if you wouldn't mind could we back up one
slide yes so I think the what I what I'd like to bring to the table as we start off this process this discussion uh tonight is uh this process did not occur in a vacuum at all it has been going on for a number of years uh there have been
a lot of different individuals involved in bringing uh this final proposal uh for consideration tonight um and that's very very important uh we have had uh UHA who has been working on this for many years and now who is one of her um
major tasks is doing that we've had both uh Christen and Dan involved in this we've had our Council involved in this as Larry indicated uh uh there has been a work group and I just have to say that is the Larry that is the longest announcement I think I've ever heard R
for a public meeting which just goes to show us uh you know kind of the comp not the complexity but the the depth of what we're going to be talking about um and so it's really important uh that we can appreciate that uh there's been a lot of lot of participation and the intention and I know Mary will
back me up on this the intention of this is to to represent the best interest of the town so the board can make the best recommendations for the town to advance what it needs to advance and what he started to um uh to talk about um or what what we're doing so we can probably
may go to the next slide um let me just see to make sure you know so this this kind of breaks breaks down what we're going to be talking about there's there's two aspects here uh um and Woody to talk about this we have some state and federal uh uh things that need to be addressed because we have to be
compliant uh like with Article 4 with our overlay districts blood flood Hazard article nine for special regulations for site plan review and article 10 for accessory Apartments now mind you we had a uh a uh an accessory apartment uh by
law long before any other community in in this area had it but now we have to come up uh to par with what the state has come up with so those state and federal uh laws that we need to go with because for instance for like flood flood the flood plane flood Hazard it's going to tie directly to people's
ability to get flood insurance then we have then we have uh local in initiatives that uh we need to take place uh and have discussions about and and this is the the the zoning recodification P piece you know uh we have General Provisions we have special
permit off his uh uh uh permits we have customary home occupations and some administrative stuff so it might seem overwhelming uh what we're going to do but it's not and so this slide kind of demonstrates what we need to do and we
have a timetable that we have to that we have to do things by we have to we have to present things we have to have discussions the uh select board has to vote on it it comes back we have to have a couple public hearings we have to make sure everyone is comfortable in educated as much uh as that we could provide
education and materials for so that when it goes to a town meeting when it when it's a warrant item the community is aware of it uh so Our intention is to continue to do our education to continue to promote what is best for our
community uh to make sure that we're where we where we need to be I don't know um uh if you want to add anything Mary to that no I like the idea that um that we are reviewing this continually because everything changes as we're
witnessing right now in this country a lot of things change in this town that we need to make allowances for and to have people understand what we are doing because of those changes and I think this is
overwhelming to most people all this information so just to let you all know out there in the real world um that we we know that this is tough stuff but we are definitely definitely trying to work
to have it understandable for you so that you can feel we're all working together right thanks Mary and so here we are when we look at this first uh this slide we can see that we're about in the Midway point of this uh um uh we're at the point where we're having a
public hearing uh and to to have a vote hope either tonight or at a continuation to to submit this to a our our select board and uh then our select board will have it go to our our finance committee for review uh to see if there are any implications and then include it on our
warrant so where we started back in December actually long before December years of of of leg work uh this is where we're at today and this is what uh tonight's conversation is about great can we go to the next slide I think thanks s beautiful uh so as we
said it might look overwhelming okay the intention here is for it not to be overwhelming we want to make it as as understandable uh and as palatable as possible uh and we don't want people to get intimidated uh by terms or by
article this or or that uh but to make it as as as appropriate and palatable that's the word I think that that uh is very helpful thanks uh is there something else for me to talk about Woody or or we on to the next slide no I
believe uh we are on to the next slide which what is the next slide yes we're on to the next slide um the next slide is a list of proposed zoning amendments and that's the list here that
Larry read off to us earlier and we are going to um I have here that U Steve's going to oh wait we so let me jump in for a second Woody
so these these uh these are these are the things that we need to do article 49 and 10 are basically things that we need to tidy up for Federal Regulation and State uh regulation so that's why those are there and then the next slide I think might
be uh uh uh regarding uh Federal overlay of blood Hazard I'm going to step back now because I think somebody else is going to walk now yep so I'd like to ince just Steve manin right Steve would you like to talk on
this article please yes I would again I'm Steve Manan one of the the associate member on the planning board and speaking to the issue of the flood Hazard overlay District uh periodically FEMA and the state will take a look at
what areas are subject to flooding and in this case the areas subject to flooding have been remapped and the slide shows a picture picture of out which is tough to see but you can go to the town website and see a better version or go to the town hall and see
it as well the idea is to assure that the town is in compliance with flood zone delineation so that Newber residents that are in the zone can continue to get flood insurance which is an important
thing for those of us that are in the flood zone uh these requirements come from both the state and the federal government in coming up with these Maps the town and the planning board have worked with FEMA and mass DCR to see that we're um
depicting something that meets the requirements of the new zoning or riverine areas I should note that I use the term riverine to emphasize that these changes affect Lo um Parcels that are along a
river and the area in yellow which you can you know see on the slide are areas where there's been an expansion of the areas that are subject to uh the new flooding requirements so by adopting this we're in compliance with the state and federal
requirements flood insurance is still available and you're encouraged to take a look at them both I should also note the town cil's taking a look at this so there's been a cast of characters including the ones that are on this uh public meeting tonight that have all
taken a look at what we have to do and come up with maps that depict what we need to do and then at town meeting that that we hope the town will adopt these changes and then we can go from there thank you so much
Steve for our next slide um yeah I just want to add one thing Woody if you if that's okay thank you Steve um just appreciate your explanation the the changes in this map update were for the
marac river Watershed so that's those are the areas in Newberry that were remapped are the areas along mostly the freshwater rivering area that flows into the marac Watershed so FMA does have a viewer
which is linked to from uh from our website that lists all these zoning amendments on the town website planning page so if people are interested specifically in you know where the changes are um you can click on the
viewer go in put in your address or put a pin on the map and then it'll Zoom right in on a certain parcel um the changes that are coming to town meeting are one to you know accept and adopt the maps which as Steve
emphasized is required for the town to stay in compliance and allow people to still be able to be a part of the flood insurance program and there are also changes to the bylaw um that bylaw is also uh we can dive into it if people
have questions and I do want to point a few minor changes that have come since the last time the planning board looked at the draft bylaw and the changes to the Ila um I feel as though I'll wait on
that if that makes sense Woody and with the board to the end so we can go through the slides and then go back and look at those uh couple minor changes that have come forward in the last couple weeks from review by um the DCR
flood plane management staff so they're making sure that every town is putting forth a bylaw that's in compliance so that we don't find ourselves kind of out of step with FEMA at any point um but I think it would be good probably to keep
going with the slides and then come back to that okay thank you Kristen so our next slide would be on adus and uh Scott would you like to present the Adu slide regulations General
regulations and accessory sure Woody um nub has had an accessory unit bylaw since 2006 um but needs to make updates to comply with the new affordable homes act
um the affordable homes act or AA is designed to encourage the development of a diversity of housing which includes smaller more affordable units adus are now Allowed by right in all zoning districts where a single
family d dwellings are allowed adus are allowed by right if they are 900 square feet or 50% of the primary dwellings grow square feet whichever is less so if one has a 2,000t home the maximum Adu
size and grow square feet would be limited to to to to 900 square F feet when building an Adu within a single family zoning District the Adu will still need to follow current zoning regulations for that zoning district for
example setbacks height requirements Frontage Etc very good and that's the second slide that we're seeing now it's SC spoke on um maximum size adus and so
forth um is it do you have anything to add Kristen or we'll go on to the next one um I think um I don't know Martha and Dan do you want to go through any of the changes if people have specific
familiarity with the bylaw that the town has had we sort of put together um these slides that show the current bylaw and the changes that are being incorporated as part of the
requirements of the affordable homes act for the proposed v um so I don't know if we want to just talk these through or just put them up on the screen maybe I'll just put them up on the screen I think it's um maybe helpful to
note that there are um because of the timing with this legislation we recognize that the most important thing is to be in compliance with the state and be consistent with um the law that already went into effect on
February in early February um I do think there were some discussions that we've had um among the board and with members of the zoning board and members of the public that there may be uh some
categories of allowances for adus that would U be appropriate to consider for a special permit um rather than by right so those are discussions we thought it would be helpful to have more time for
so I do anticipate that you know as the towns work on housing continues we would be bringing back for discussion and potentially um amendments to the bylaw next year um to just sort of see
how this is working over a year see if it is resulting in um you know the more smaller units actually being able to be built if it's not think about why think about the ways that the town can you
know support uh families and homeowners who have a single family home now and want to consider this but what are the barriers what are the opportunities are there ways to continue to support that um those are all discussions we
anticipate continuing into the next year very good site plan review language has been added to the criteria that the board may use when permitting a project that requires site
plan review a big one in the past with some projects that we've had is uh light lighting we didn't have language for lighting and please speak up marur if I say anything out of out of sort but we had
some we didn't have any um lighting so we're we've got some wording in the bylaw for um light pollution and Dark Star compliance standards for the exterior exterior Lighting on uh some of the projects that
may come in the future and uh energy water and resource efficient design um the other one the other thing was um to be in compliance with the um
Municipal uh storm water ms4 um there's going to be a provision regarding preconstruction meetings is added to the language to be compliant with the Massachusetts
Municipal uh separate storm water system um do you have anything to add to that Matha no I think you covered it um yeah I think that the language that was added to the design criteria um is important as wood he said the board has
struggled with this for some some of the applications as our our site plan review bylaw has been on the books for quite some time time and you know we've become aware with some projects that there actually are issues with light pollution and certainly given everything that's going
on we want to make sure that the projects are as energy water and resource efficient as possible so um the board really felt that it would be helpful to to add these provisions and regarding the um compliance with our storm waterer
General permit we do have a consultant on board who reviews our our bylaw from to time and noted that we we needed to add this provision regarding preconstruction meetings particularly with respect to um you know observing um
pre and post um or construction um storm water management controls so that's that's the Genesis for that that particular provision thank you thank you M for anyone who doesn't really understand uh
dark sky compliant if you there's a good um actually a good visual here on the uh on the slide um but also just think if somebody were taking a spotlight and shining it up in the sky and those were your
neighbors or some you know you had a couple of sites around you that were not complying with the dark sky provision um it would be hard to see the sky ever so that that's
something that uh Newbery does not want to have we want to have everything as as um natural as possible and this is possible to make it this way the exterior um be compliant yes yes thank you Mary and
part of part of the dock stock compli uh is uh light trespass onto adjacent properties the part of this is to keep the lighting facing down in on on site where where
it's proposed and not up at the sky or trespassing into neighboring properties so thank you Mary for bringing that up and Woody I might just add one thing yeah one of the things about dark scar Sky compliance is you know we are
in an environmentally sensitive area we're on a Flyway for migratory Birds uh of course lights distract uh migratory birds and if you to go go to El's website uh you can track migration you can track uh Skype uh pollution and it
it has an effect um so this is also keeping in touch with what our roots are here thank you Pete all right the next slide we have is uh we're getting into the zoning recodification
and um I'll turn it over to Martha and Larry all right thanks Woody shall I proceed Martha uh yes if you would yeah sure so now we we get to that section that we've identified as zoning recodification this slide is just a very
high level um overview of the articles in the zoning byw that we're going to be looking at in more detail um article one General Provisions yeah you can go on and I do want to make a point um that we're not done with recodification um it it's still an ongoing process but
it was felt it was appropriate to bring what has been done to date uh to town meeting um so for recodification the purpose uh as stated in the slides to review update and reorganize the existing zoning bylaw in order to revise
unclear and inconsistent language to remove Andor revise outdated Provisions to align the bylaw with current laws and Community goals to make the bylaw easier to use and understand for both applicants and board members it's not the intent to Al it's not the purpose to
alter the intent of the zoning bylaw it still remains to protect the health safety and Welfare of the citizens of of Newbery uh the revisions proposed for the 2025 ATM as I said before are part of a longer term zoning bylaw review and
update conducted by staff board members and Town Council so if we could go to the next next slide so uh yeah the purpose of intent up I think we've seen this haven't we um oh I'm sorry I'm sorry uh yeah the
amendment to 971 purpose and intent is to update and replace the with new language that is consistent with current provisions of Mass general laws the updates include items such as conflicts between this byw and other bylaws and Covenants validity of actions taken
before effective date of this bylaw severability of certain Provisions are found to be invalid scope and applicability of the zoning bylaw Etc thank you can uh move on whoever is handling the uh can we go
to the next slide please oh we are on the next slide I'm sorry um so in as 5A um and general the language added to provide procedural guidance and decision criteria for General special permit applications
again these these apply to the special permit section uh it benefits both applicants and the board uh for the osrd um open space residential development language amended and added to clarify certain provisions of the bylaw one
provision I think I'll touch on if I may um currently at as written the osrd uh requires a developer of four or more lots to First apply uh for an osrd special permit uh the language has been
amended um to make that uh permissive rather than mandatory and the reason for that that's that's got some attention but the reason for that is to bring us into compliance with a court case uh the Massachusetts appellant court has ruled that you cannot require a Vel oper to
apply for an osrd special permit you can only um give them the opportunity to apply so that's the reason why we're going from a mandatory requirement to a permissive requirement and uh right now it requires or it provides for an osrd
uh for um projects of four or more lots and I'm told that there might be uh a something under consideration to change that to three lots uh and I can't speak to that mon can you speak to that at all uh that's about all I know about it sure
um in talking with Town Council when we made the change from shall uh submit an application to May submit an application um it became clear that that uh that change in language was actually precluding the possibility of submitting
an osrd special permit application for something that was four lots are smaller um before the the the lot number was was essentially a threshold which was determined um it was felt that that would it would be uneconomical
potentially for a developer to submit an osrd for a very small subdivision so it felt you know the board at the time felt that having the larger threshold would be appropriate but in this case um it may be that there could be a developer
who would want to submit a an osrd of say three lots and the way language is written once it gets changed to many is that they they would not be able to to submit that so one of the things that we did want to talk with the board
tonight was changing that that that that number to three so that they may submit an osod application if um for a subdivision of three lots or more right thanks Martha another thing
uh too with and through the permitting process we did Identify some um difficult is an interpretation of the osrd as it relates to condominium form of development the osrd is the only place in our bylaws where Condominiums are permitted and uh there's language
proposed to tighten that language up um so that uh everybody understands what needs to be done and also 975d on common driveways it's adding language to amend and clarify certain Provisions uh regarding uh the common driveway design
specifications and application requir re Ms um I'll move on unless anyone has any anything further on that okay um in a nutshell um now that u u marijuana uh
dispensaries are U um medical marijuana and recreational marijuana are both allowed in Massachusetts there's really no need to have two separate bylaws um so I I uh my memory serves the
medical marijuana um bylaw was passed before the recreational bylaw uh recreational use became legal and uh again if my memory serves on that anyway we don't need two separate marijuana bylaws in the whole point point here is
simply to uh uh include them in one bylaw and and next customary home occupation um this actually came out of a um court case um in which uh um an applicant
applied for special permit to the planning board for Doggy Daycare and uh the permit was special permit was denied and it was appealed and um because the um uh The Proposal in this particular
case would have also qualified under our language for customary home occupation the court basically ruled that the customary home occupation Provisions trumped the um table of use regulations so this is to correct that and make it
clear that if if not just doggy daycares but any uh occupation or use that is identified as requiring a special permit under the and the table of use regulations can not uh be considered a customary home
occupation and lastly Administration uh we're adding language to clarify the granting and enforcement of building permits and granting of variances uh in written definition section updated with new and revised definitions and I understand in particular the language uh regarding
building permits was uh was suggested by Town Council um and I think that's all I have Woody thank you so much Larry and uh the guidance of Town Council is very
important they they're very helpful for board um so that concludes us that part of the slides um we're on to questions comments and discussion
um are there any questions from the public at this time if there is please raise your hand we'll address you in the order that the hands are raised um yeah David pal has his hand raised yes David go right
ahead please um please say your name and ask a question please David you're still on mute actually yeah I can't see him still can't hear you David you're
still muted am I unmuted now can hear you now David thank you can thank you okay um I okay try to make sense of the order of things here
um I sent uh an email to Kristen which I think she forwarded to all the members of the board am I correct that you got that last week
yes yes yeah everybody has seen that um so since you just sort of changed the order of things a little bit um I had comments in relation to to um
the first item which concerns the um oh I'm having to uh look at my comments here um the purpose and intent okay can someone please address
the reason for what's in that item and my comments about um do you uh David I could share your comments on the screen or do you want to
read them for uh people listening I can I can read them if you like um or I I don't I can essentially that for you essentially I understand the reason for
um doing this in terms of um the the old language and the necessity to um have new language as is as required by the state law however
looking at what is now proposed um what I'm finding is that um first of all there's a phrase in there and that I need to look at here so I get
it correct um okay to increase the amenities of the town and I think I I I'm confused as to why that is in this
particular part of the zoning because because first of all that phrase in and of itself you could drive a truck through in terms of means entirely dependent upon what
people see as an amenity and what people see as an improvement and so I would feel that to include that phrase you're opening yourself up to all kinds of um essentially arguments that you
don't want to get into I also think in addition that frankly it is not the purpose of zoning to do that task in other words to to provide amenities in
the town to hear from the Meers of the board as to why they left this in there nobody wants to that well I will say that this is
language that did come directly from from Town Council um and and we we did not have any discussion about that particular provision so well okay that does move to a slightly secondary concern and that is
I am concerned that Town Council should not be writing zoning Town Council should be reviewing for its um legality in relation to
State uh law and and to also to the demands and desires of the planning board so I would really want that to be removed the other other thing is I'm
essentially confused by the fact that um the purpose and intent are covered by the first two articles a or two items
A and B and also perhaps item F but all the other items have nothing to do with purpose or inent they have to do with conditions that apply I don't know how would you
describe them to to be acceptable as um legal language but they are sort of conditioning as to how the purpose and intent is to be interpreted I think they need to be
segregated and I think that um item F needs to become item [Music] C so once again what do you think so I'd be happy to share that article if the board wants to um just
see specifically what um David's referring to in case it's not in front of you and then for the benefit of um others yes please Woody can I ask um David a question yes go right
ahead um would are you saying just to get rid of that word and substitute it for something else that seems more appropriate amenities could be you know toothpaste shampoo whatever you know are you asking that we not use the word
amenity even though it was uh proposed by uh legal Council that we actually come up with a word that's more appropriate is that right David uh no I'm proposing you remove the whole phrase okay that your that the purpose
of zoning as defined by chapter 40 Mass law is not to increase anything and it certainly isn't to increase amenities and frankly Town Council should have known that
so so how are you going to if if the if amendments to what you're proposing are proposed tonight how are you going to um deal with that that's what we need another thing we need to do to move this
process along because there a couple of other things that I need to talk about well speaking for myself I I'm not troubled by the language um in David it almost sounds like to your larger point about what ought to be
in here and what ought not to be in here it almost sounds like your your problem is with the the section heading purpose and intent rather than I I don't see anything in here that I would think is inappropriate to have in his own in the
general provisions of his owning bylaw it's just one person's opinion you don't find increasing amenities to you find that to be an appropriate purpose for the I do I do for zoning
yes do you know what zoning is about Larry are I don't I don't need a lecture from you I'm just giving you my honest opinion I the languages has been uh uh has been drafted by Council I'm for one very
reluctant uh to amend any language that's been drafted by legal councel I'm not troubled by it you are troubled by it you're entitled to your opinion and I respect it okay f um just one
member if I could David if I could uh you know we as a board rely on guidance from our support staff which we now have three who do a lot of homework for us and bring information to us a lot of the
information that they are given a course is from Council and the reason that we have council is they have more understanding of law experience with bar in appreciation of change in Direction so we rely on the people
that are most attuned to change and so when Council and any organization that I'm involved with and I'm involved with a number of different boards and organizations whenever I need guidance I go to councel they say where are we with this situation and this is what we have receive and so I have to trust the
Consultants that are available to the community to direct the community and its best interest so I I I tend to always follow that lead and that's been my my my uh my operation you know pretty much every organization I've ever been involved
in doesn't mean those comments are not vetted if they're vetted but you're saying take it uh on face value that uh it's good advice is that correct Pete correct and in
yes okay uh David did you have anything else um well I think probably not because I think obviously the tenor of discussion
doesn't include uh moving away from things that seem to have been identified by Town Council um and if you're determined to
take the advice of Town Council as being what you would like to prescribe as being zoning um then I
probably have nothing much further to say on any of the topics because that essentially means that a discussion from basically how lar with it
is on the table David I wouldn't want you to feel that way I mean for instance Martha brought something up uh tonight for the board to discuss what we're going to do with regards to units for uh usrd 304 I mean this is why we have discussion this
is why we have conversation sometimes we don't agree on things but um uh it's you should not feel shut down in any manner it's just that when Council tells me something I usually follow that recommendation because they usually know something that I don't and that's me
personally right okay but let's let's try and take this through uh in terms of relation to this particular phrase why did Town Council put this phrase in there when it clearly doesn't
apply to zoning this what I what I would suggest is that we will ask Council that exact question and then staff will get back to you with council's reply would that help you yeah that's correct good good let me
say that I I think that phrase does apply to zoning at least in the context of spe permit excuse me special permit applications and that's really what special permits are all about well I shouldn't say all about but that's an important
factor so I I I would disagree with you respectfully that that it has no application in zoning doesn't have an application for every type of petition and it doesn't have an application for dimensional variances for example
but but I okay in relation to special permits I can see in terms of um amenities perhaps but increase is not your function uh if it was you should be out
out there recruiting you should be out there as a as as a body looking to people into the town and you're not I'm not saying you personally but I mean the planning board doesn't do
that all right well I I think Pete's suggestion is a good one we'll we'll run this by Town Council if I don't know if we're going to complete this public hearing tonight or not um if uh if we don't then uh um we'll have uh uh you
know an opportunity to revisit again before we send this on to the select board if we do it it might be right um for U um uh an amendment on the floor of town meeting and there there's another point
you made David that I I I think was well taken on my part uh by me anyway uh that had to do with um uh why there was no reference to housing for example or a reference to the most recent uh uh um
master plan master plan those thank you uh and I and I thought that would those uh uh I thought those comments were were uh very uh appropriate and I think maybe we can also run that by Town Council as
to why that language ought not to be included good point Larry I think they're very well taken as well it's a it's an overview it's a look from the top looking down and saying what what are we doing here and why and you have a
master plan that's new that took a long time to develop and uh you have a a mandate from the state where we are in compliance as far as we've gone we've worked very hard to well Martha and and
everyone else but um to be sure that we're we are complying with the state and so those two things are overarching issues well taken well thank you Mary I would definitely agree um that's
why I put them in there and by the way one of the things I tend to do when I'm looking to review stuff like this frankly is to look at what other communities in the in the state are doing and one of the things I just
discovered was that many communities that are reasonably like ours are indeed including just those two things in other words the mention of housing because housing is is is this incredible issue
currently throughout the state and and I mean it's it underlies the whole reason for 40b and a whole bunch of things like that plus the master plan issue is is also one that has come to the for in in
other communities where Master plans have been done and essentially abandoned because they haven't been given as a purpose and intent of the planning board so I would really encourage that um I
guess the only other one um item that I feel fairly strongly about if we can move to that because it comes under uh the section of um uh special permits which we were talking
about and that is this change from sh to May and the number issue um and David sorry I I just I'm I want to bring up that next one but can I
before I leave sharing this article one can I just make one comment for the benefit of this discussion um or one potential suggestion which is the current purpose
and inent section which is shown here can you guys all see that at the top it's striketh through language um I just want to uh point out that the current bylaw has a phrase about housing in it
and I you know I appreciate the that this has been pointed out tonight and I think it wouldn't be an unreasonable uh consideration by the board to just put this keep this phrase like not have it
stricken struck stricken not have it uh removed and um include this phrase which David has brought up as being a part of our current bylaw but
somehow uh we lost it in the new language um and then just briefly I would just say this other phrase here about facilitate the adequate provisions of Transportation water water supply drainage sewage schools parks open space
and other public requirements that's in my mind that category of uh public benefits if you will
could also the the word amenities could also translate as meaning some of those things parks open space water supply um I mean some of them are not an amenity they're a a need and a
requirement of a healthy Community um but I do think some of the effort with the new language is just to simplify a little bit um so two things potentially to consider keeping the
housing phrase and then um that's what I would point out thank you Kristen is it says to facilitate all right not to increase that's my point is and Mary I'm sure
will appreciate this words have specific meanings in specific context and to talk about increasing the amenities does not go with the purpose of zoning but to
facilitate amenities I think is not a good word it needs to be something else that's that's what I'm talking about here is that to increase the amenities is essentially as I said earlier a phrase you could drive a truck through
because it's so vag whereas if you have a long list it isn't if you want to remove the list then you have to find something that describes but facilitation and increase
are not the same is that fair fair great okay thank you for um just holding on that for a minute um so which section question five is that what we're going to next yes
5c yes right um the the change from uh will to shall and um I mean sorry from sh to May and the number issue um and the only thing I would say I
would ask for a clarification as to the legal issue that was quoted somebody said there was okay this is [Music] um uh right uh right there you go
uh right uh that's right now up there yes by the way there's a nasty time lag on Channel 9 which is about few seconds behind where we are in real time um okay so
what you see there is the change which is being proposed and what was what was the legal reason for this um I I was the one who raised that issue
there was a Massachusetts appeals court case that came down two or three years ago I don't recall it the name of the case it was if I may it's the Wall Street development case oh it's the Wall Street development case thank you Mar and um basically uh what the court said
is that because an applicant has a right under Mass general laws to apply for a conventional subdivision you the town cannot limit that right through bylaw by requiring an osrd
application from as a as a um preliminary step from the developer um and it it certainly it um uh it's uh um the osr is certainly
favored um but uh the courts just said we can't make them do it is the the short answer um that that we can allow them to do it but we can't make them do it and I think Martha explained earlier that the rationale from going to four to three
was um and this was this is new to me as of today um uh it's because uh uh if I understood you Mar Martha changing uh sh to May means that someone
cannot apply for any uh for an osrd with less than four units right right is that correct that's correct for actually less than five because right now it reads yeah reads four more than four units oh I'm sorry
yeah okay all right right so more than three or more than two three or more three or more right and that and the purpose if I understand you correctly is to encourage the osrd form right and to
allow somebody you know May um if somebody has say a three or four acre parcel which might have a yield plan of three units and they feel that they can make an osrd work then we certainly don't want to preclude that possibility
okay right okay so back to to my comment thank you Larry for the clarification um then okay having been long time ago the
original rewriter of the osrd um that was why I was really concerned to see the change of language but obviously the the courts have had their say I would suggest then at this
point if that is the issue the need for the change that um I would think um to to to provide a a language that encourages
people to um submit osrs and I don't quite know how that would be done but um at at this point I understand about the the the the lot um
and the unit limit the only thing I would raise there as a question is since there requirement to have a specific percentage of qualifying Upland open space right
Martha that's correct are we going to have small developments which would even qualify to have an
osrd right whether one changes the word application to review in other words that what you encourage people to do who are looking at a certain number of units and I would
suggest it's probably larger like six or eight to to review the feasibility of an osrd and that to the planning board um to say no they don't think
it'll work or yes shall we go ahead okay in other words it needs to a little more to to allow I think for more options that's that's all I'm
suggesting now so um I'm sorry for the interruption David but would if we um included that we create more than four lots of
units um are encouraged to but not required or are encouraged but not required to submit an application for osrd the planning board um would that be um better language yeah so if if I may and Kristen
correct me if I'm wrong on this or Dan we did have a conversation with Town Council about that and she felt that that would actually be something to put in our subdivision rules and Rags so that somebody who is applying for a subdivision would also there we could
encourage them or require them to submit you know a basic osrd plan to see if it would work I I I I personally think that's the place but not something we could
doation yeah I I will just kind of add out of context um I've had several conversations with other planners um one of the environmental planners at the Metropolitan Area Planning Commission
a lot of towns are kind of struggling with their osrs right now partially due to this court case um but partially uh from some of my conversations it's people aren't really doing them she actually the woman I was
talking with was quite um surprised and impressed to hear that Newberry actually has seen some of these and I will add that uh you know I had a call from a developer who was asking me if there's anything in
the bylaw that prohibits an osrd of three lots because he actually likes doing those kinds of developments um so I will just I'm just kind of flagging that context and saying I do think in our discussions of this we ended up
feeling like making our bylaw not inconsistent with the law was important um secondly it was important to not prohibit the possibility if someone's interested in it and can meet all the
other requirements certain amount of Uplands you know Frontage all the rest um but this is also an area I think that merits a more thorough um review of all the regulations and how they work with
the bylaw potentially so this isn't I guess I'll just say I don't feel like these updates are the end of the story with osrs right I mean definitely I think we've all come away feeling that we do need to review the
regulations um and that would be the next that would be the next step and to your point David that's that is really where the requirements for the yield plan are in the regulation so I know that was one of your
comments yeah I I think know putting together what you were saying earlier what Kristen has just said and my concern here is I think that it may be that one needs a
subtler um set of condition stated whereby you don't um discourage people uh thinking that somehow their their project is too small but you
continue to really encourage people with large projects to to think about this because I mean one of the things one of why this is a little bit of History one of the reasons why this came about in the first
place is partly because David Mountain who somebody I think all of you know of if you didn't know him you certainly know of him he was the planning board chair for many years and he was very much
behind this and when I came on to the planning board this is why we decided based on the experience with cwell farms and what was going on with the other one down by the bfield church
um that we needed to revive the the osr as it was drafted because it came from an outside organization in the state etc etc um and what we did at that
point was essentially to try to deal with the issue that this town has so much land which is not buildable for various reasons and a lot of that land was
getting uh how shall I say um uh confused with land that was buildable and that there had been a number of attempted projects which
eventually had fallen through be because somehow you you couldn't Square all the things that needed to be done and so this that's part of how this came about but clearly it it was a blunt instrument
I'm afraid and I take responsibility for the fact that it you know it was in many ways something aent um and I would just encourage at this point to to to think about what Kristen's suggesting and that
is that it needs more thorough revision and it probably at this point needs to have well obviously does need to have for shell taken out um and and then you move on later to
to to make it a better instrument to use okay well I think the shell is already T it's already struck right yes yeah so the the change in this provision was to to change the number as Kristen said to
you know allow the potential for a smaller subdivision yes I think that makes really good sense Marth yes it would say three or more right yes yeah I would I would support that
certainly okay so change would read any um an applicant for any subdivision of land or development that will create three or more Lots or units May submit an application for an
osrd is that how about one more time David is encouraged to I think May is the opportunity and may allows
for it um I don't know if we want to put language that encourages something I think we just want to say yes you sh you may or you may not um and it's up it's up to an applicant
if they'd like to they can how you why don't you want to encourage it uh Peter I think may I think May says it well as was discussed earlier I think that language is probably better on the the subdivision
rigs I mean ultimately the only encouragement that we can give them is the B denst the density bonus when you get down to it right um I don't know I don't know what other type of encouragement you can
provide um okay that's is okay thank you David if you don't have anything else to add thank you for thank you David I appreciate it
um that are there any other raised hands Kristen do you see any I do not see any right now okay how does the board feel with uh the what the changes we just made now and
with all of this um it's is there does anyone feel there's anything pressing that needs to go Town Council or are we happy with this and uh we close the public hearing and move on move it on to the
select and if I'm forgetting anything someone please speak up if I may we did have there are a few tweaks to the language and some of these bylaws um from the versions that you had seen previously or the ones that were
submitted to to the select board nothing major but um got a few for the the the recodification ones and I think there might be some in um flood plane as well oh yes yep so you'd like to go through
those now MAA uh yes I think it'd be good for the board to see those before any any vote is taken yeah okay y well the issue I identified in um concerning the
citation for the yield plan being missing yes and yeah I think you're right it it is chapter 112 and it should be referenced there yeah I just would know would seem to me to be something that doesn't require uh you know vast change of
language but it does mean that somebody needs to know where to go yes no you're you're absolutely right about that okay all thank you all right thank you David thanks do you have do you have the
language Kristen put up so Martha what which one do you w to look at um so we just went through the osod I think everybody's comfortable with that I do agree with David that in the um oh I think it's the the one about basic
maximum number um the chapter reference for the RS should be inserted to that but um otherwise the next one was under special permits the common driveways just a small suggested change okay that's the same same one
yeah section wait um can you remind me what section that is yeah so it's 95d and we're looking at 975d 4 B8 it before or after osrd it's after here it is okay
y yep so keep going down a little bit it's in Red so right here the 08 so we had added this provision for waivers from um the design specifications and the way it was
written before was the board may may wave strict compliance with any of these common driveway specifications if it deems the waivers in the public interest and does not impact Public Safety and if written record is kept of such waivers and the reasons for them very minor suggestion to add the language um if it
deems the waiver is consistent with the purpose and intent of this common driveway bylaw is in the public interest Etc and that's suggested just because there's similar languages elsewhere in the bylaw making sure that it is consistent with the purpose and
intent does anyone have any comments on that I'm good that's reasonable fine with it okay and for most everyone Y and what's the next one MAA
and then the next one was actually in 9711 there were tweaks to a couple of the definitions okay so the first one is building heighten this is not a change but after discussion there's been some back and
forth about this one after discussion with Building Commissioner um his preference would be to leave leave it the way we have it there had been a suggestion that um roof decks not be um excluded and
cupas so the definition that you've seen before is is what stands right now and I just wanted to point that out the next one is lot Frontage and so it was a change in this
first sentence it originally read The Continuous portion of the line separating a lot from a street to which the owner of the lot has a legal right of access and it said to which the owner could provide for ve vehicular access from the principal building and after
discussing with Town Council it was thought that it would be better to change switch the two and the from so it reads from which the owner could provide for vehicular access to the principal building okay and then the last one was the
definition for structure um if you recall the last time there were some some different variations of language in that one and following discussion with our Building Commissioner and also with Town Council it was felt that the best thing to do
would be to make it consistent with mass building code which is what's written here in Red so I'm happy to read it if you like or you can read it yourselves we had we had a discussion on this um a couple weeks ago yes yeah and there were
various various Lang or various options for the language that we kind of talk through and try to parse it but um both the Building Commissioner really felt that it would be beneficial to just make it consistent with the building code and that's how he would interpret it and
Town Council was in agreement with that than sure very good everyone else happy with that change okay and is that it MAA or did you have another one um that was it for
um for those okay so we have um just a couple quick things in the Adu bylaw and the flood plane bylaw um and um Dan maybe I'll let you take the Adu
first if you want I'll find it I have it here if you want me to bring it up um oh wait wait that's not it no no that's where we just were how's the double screen looking
Kristen it's not I'm all on one screen um okay do you do you want to bring it up Dan I think you have it open okay thank you I'll get the flood plan ready can you all see
that yes we can yes so there's been few changes um from what you guys have seen um they're here in Red so under definitions gross floor area has changed I'm going to leave that up on the screen let you guys read it can uh Dan can you
bring get that uh make it larger absolutely thank you is that work much better thank you is there anybody who has any comments or concerns about the change in definition there I don't speak up if you do
I all right so I'm hearing none I'm going to go on to the next one so bus station is now location serving as a point of embarcation for any bus operated by a Transit Authority that was important as part of the the new law
and then I think that was it so the bus stop change and then the gross floor area I'll leave up the bus station section as well if anybody wants to discuss further if anyone has any questions
please speak up I don't have any questions myself so I don't have any either none here okay thank you st thank you Mary I'm stop sharing that yep and then
there was another item Christ um so as you all know the flood plane regul uh sorry flood Hazard overlay district byla is a long one and all of the
changes arise from the change in the maps um and updates to the requirements to allow Newbury to stay consistent uh with FEMA's requirements so that our residents can remain in the
flood insurance program so there's quite a bit of striketh through and bold italics um it's a little bit overwhelming but I think it's important to know that this um has come directly from the model
bylaw that's been um DCR has helped every Community um reviewing each and every municipality's bylaw to assure that um people do stay consistent with the regulations and the
requirements and also um ensive review by Our Town Council so um what is different from the last several times the planning board has reviewed this is a couple things came in since our last
discussion from DCR um none of them big just things that were deemed unnecessary um this particular provision is being recommended that it's already it's basically redundant um and what is
here is doesn't have as much detail as it has elsewhere so it's just not needed here because it's um covered elsewhere so striking this section that shows here is one
change um and then this section um in these zones all recreational Vehicles placed on a site must be elevated and anchored in accordance with
d d this was uh mistakenly left out of the the model bylaw um as this is the comment from dcr's flood plane management uh Council that the town needs to add the A
and AO zones to this list of zones where this is applicable it was previously missed to a to a typo in the Massachusetts model of bylaw so adding those okay
um see um this was a recommendation that temporary be defined here it it said temporary non-residential structures in connection with fishing growing harvesting storage these are permitted
uses um so we've just proposed to add the phrase temporary non-residential structure used for 180 days or less to clarify that and then this
one recommend removing this um building code regulation um still applies to structures to these structures if they're in the flood plane so again this is to make sure this B is not in
consistent with um building code I think that's oh no one more so this uh this is the last one this was again from the review by DCR um recommends removing this because um the only reference the only
references to the word alter in this bylaw or in definitions that refer to altering structures um this as you see is bold italic language so this is a definition that Town Council initially recommended we
add into our bylaw so I am recommending to the board that we keep it in um unless we hear from Town Council that it should be removed um we haven't gotten
that final opinion from Town Council yet so my recommendation is um we bring this question to her and specifically get an answer but at the moment I think because
the recommendation initially came to add this bold uh language we should keep it in and it's the state DCR isn't saying there's any problem with it they're just saying saying you don't need
it so those are the changes that have come through the final review by DCR um and that's how we're recommending they be handled everything else is consistent with what you've seen at several other
meetings already very good any questions on the revisions suggested by DCF yeah um yeah so Kristen if we voted to approve as is and then Town
Council um recommended removal of that language would there need to be an amendment at the town meeting or um I think that would be how it was handled I'm not sure actually Martha maybe you can help me with this can the
if we received the recommendation in advance of um the select board voting to put the article on the warrant could the select board [Music] approve the change that's a good question I think it
would probably have to be an amendment from the floor at town meeting so it seems to me that there would be two options one would be to actually keep the hearing open and try to get get that that um guidance um or
to um vote tonight to close the hearing and approve the language as is and amend from the floor if if it seems that language needs to come out well it's it's it's not painful language right it's just you know could
we um vote to approve we move forward as is to town or s select Ro two town meeting and then at a future date um you know make make this change I'm just trying to
streamline yeah I mean I yes I that's sort of how I uh interpret this again it was initially recommended by Town Council to include this um and I don't
think dcr's comment about not needing it is there's no necessary conflict with including it it's just determined to not be needed so I think it could be removed um without having
any different in the applicability of this bylaw or you know how it's interpreted by the um flood plane administrator or anything else it's sort of extraneous uh that's my interpretation well Kristen
why does DCR say it's not needed is it because it's a matter of general [Music] laws um just what I know is this comment the the recommend removing this the only references to alter in this bylaw are in
definitions that refer to altering structures which this does not apply to so I it's oh that came from the statement that's that's the state's comment yes okay Kristen since we talked about this
being a living document at the beginning of the meeting just one of these things that would be cleaned up subsequently along with other housekeeping things you know six months or nine months from now yeah yeah it definitely could be
modified in the future well can we switch gears for a second where where I'm not quite sure where we stand on the language for article one General Provisions that we we had the discussion about have have we
a consensus on that language or were we going to send something to Town Council because if we have a couple of things that need to go to town Council then maybe we ought to do that before we finalize anything hate to have to meet again
unnecessarily but you mean the the May versus the I'm sorry um what what was it exactly that you were speaking you you know the the the uh the discussion we had with David
Powell about um amenities and and uh the definition of amenities and Kristen looked at some language to suggested that we keep have we resolved that do we have that language or is it something I thought we
were going to send to Town Council as Pete had suggested and I thought that's where the board landed was to to send it to council yeah okay so maybe maybe we have two two
areas items of review for Town Council we are would we probably should resolve before uh before sending this up to the select board so you would say get get it to Town Council get
resolved keep the hearing a lot cleaner than having to make a motion on town meeting floor yeah I mean that's where I was going I I mean I I just think an amendment at a town meeting it just it it it complicates things either that or it would be some
sort of qualified motion to to approve subject to review by Town Council or something but that's that's kind of clumsy too there something that's sensitive okay so we'll keep the we'll keep the public hearing open and what is
everyone's the date we would have to have our next public hearing would be um the I'm looking for the date I'm sorry I don't want him to speak 26 Wednesday yeah next Wednesday
226 um is everybody available on that date yeah I'm available you wanted to do it at 6:30 correct because yes uh yes to to help Peter Peters would it would be
better for Peter we did it at 6:30 as opposed to 7 I could do at 6:30 repeat okay um yes you would think yeah you're available Mary okay great yes yes um so is this 6:30 meeting
um to resolve this issue that we just talked about those two issues right yes yes okay so is this what I call a short meeting in and out nobody gets hurt right hopefully it we would close the we
would resolve the two issues close the public hearing and then vote to send it off to uh Town Council uh off to the select Bo excuse me if I if I said that correctly I think you did yeah
okay so um I just I I would like a little more clarity on this one that I'm sharing with because I'm not clear what the question to Town Council is I know David made comments about the language I we've had some
discussion but I want to make sure I understand what the board is asking of Town Council well I I think I'll tell you how I understand it Kristen under Part B purpose uh would be uh to see if we
could include a reference regarding housing in in the current master plan and um uh also whether or not um uh we could find some better language regarding uh increase uh or amenities you had
suggested bringing down some language above that had been had been stricken which look good to me um or just just strike the to increase the amenities of the town it's you know
it's I guess that's what I I just want to see if the board would like to propose what they want and then we can have Town Council review it if it would be able if we need more
discussion I'm sure she will want to know not to give advice um but to review the proposed language for legality so the so the
meeting on the 26th would would be solely to answer those two issues is that correct Kristen to have to the meeting on the 26th is to review the final language in the proposed amendments and to refer the
amendments to the select board right but we pretty much did all of that except the two issues that are hanging ch right correct but I want to make sure if we talk with Town Council in advance of the meeting I want to make
sure the questions the board has about language are answered in advance well Kristen um maybe you know under a the purpose and intent you know number one was
completely struck was there a reason why it was completely struck um you know for from a process point or just not necessary I mean any idea behind
that well it was struck and replaced with this section B it's alternative language is the way I read it um but Martha do you recall any more specificity around this section no I think that's that's that's correct it
was just felt that that um the new language was was more updated and concise and consistent with you Mass General law and so we're looking to pluck in oh
you highlighted it now okay to encourage housing for persons of all income level and that's G to we're going to slide that into somewhere in B correct yeah okay so the housing one we're
discussing adding back in and then this one we're discussing what's the question exactly the word AB with the board like to consider removing it or revising it
or uh I don't think we probably should get into group writing but we could um you know put similarly put language from up here propos that some of this language similar to the housing yes just
cut and paste it down well paste it down there so are you saying cut and paste the to facilitate the adequate um in place to increase the amenities of the of the
town so if I could just to throw a little more cloudiness into what we're now talking about um amenities covers it all and if you don't list it then you're excluding it yeah that's a good point
okay so that one word and now as I think about it and this might help David digest this better um if we if we just say to encourage housing for personal of all income level and that's it then we're missing the all the other
stuff that's in this net that we're trying to um incorporate um so I I think appreciating that amenities covers all above but has been stricken and maybe some other things we're not
thinking about so I'm getting more comfortable with leaving that language as it is and understanding the thought process without having the conversation good sounds good to me actually
Pete as well so keep it add the whole thing or still have this question included just keep keep it as is that's my that's my vote I I I think
you can keep it as is uh Kristen then you can just bring back to the board her explanation of why she chose that word and I think what it's going to be reflective of is what we just kind of work through the conversation that rather than list everything and by chance exclude something that one
concept that one word incorporates it all okay okay so very good yeah right is there anything before we we we we jump off
that Woody i s i see that David put his hand up and David does that does that explanation make sense to you now uh no I I I just okay if you look at the list
which I can't do the the long list which has gotten struck out which are where it says facilitate Etc many of the item I don't know when you know this but this was this was in the original
drafting or zoning introduced in the 60s in this country okay and if you look at that list it reflects the thinking of that time talks about Transportation it talks about schools talks about all the things
that in those those days were within the purview of an individual Community many of those things now on are not within the perview of an individual community and therefore essentially become discharged
from from any uh involvement of an individual planning board and so that was the reason I think that that was taken out and I can understand that what I am trying trying to indicate is that
the phrase as it stands could allow somebody to come along and say an ice cream parlor is an amenity and then you get into a silly argument about what amenities
are and also as I said the function of the planning board is not to increase things facilitate yes if you were to increase things you would be a very different kind of Bard acting
in a very different kind of way in my understanding of that word okay but to facilitate that's what you do people bring stuff to you and you facilitate all
right the only way in which you perhaps initial things is in what you're doing right now which is um in the revision of zoning which is a very important task and I understand and I commend you for doing it but
please you know language is language and and in the case of of the Town Council recommending this I think to ask if it was indeed um Lisa me to ask
her you know whether she thinks that is a reasonable and and and perfectly accurate replacement for what was taken out and I think she would have to say no it's ended up rather
different and and in a way it's not helpful you don't have to have it anyway seems to be so are you saying David that we should allow Town Council to make the decision that we're trying to make right
now well I I would I don't know I would suggest facilitate stays and amenities there has to be a better word well I mean in my business amenities are swimming pools tennis
courts Club rooms gymnasiums um you name it just desirable things you know by definition you know amenity is a desirable useful useful feature or facility of a building or place um quote
heating is regarded as a basic amenity so um by the definition um you know I would think that Transportation water water supply drainage sewage schools I mean those are
basic amenities I think Scott that David saying that there's a denotation and a connotation not to get grammatical but some you know there's there's the hard definition of it and then there's what
people receive it to be which is how it's used and you're saying it's being used I I don't I don't disagree that's that's probably where he's well is that what you think David I'm sorry I get
you said something about disagreeing no um I Scott do you want to ask your question again or you all set sure um I mean I guess David what are you perceiving um amend to mean I
mean is it a something that the town doesn't like necessarily need um something that it desires but doesn't need like swimming pools and and public passports or you know or amenities um
you know basic amenities such as you know sewer um water um you know open space do I think certain water services and not amenities um perhaps Community amenities
would would be better okay to facilitate Community amenities actually I think that's a very good suggestion David thank you to increase the to increase Community
amenities of the town no not increase Peter facilitate facilitate make happen hope isn't to increase anything facilitate help make
happen to facilitate repeat that one more time please to facilitate Community ameni the community amenities of the town or I think in as David said the community one of one on the
same yep correct okay it works for me okay as well so thank you and sorry to to dwell a little longer but I think it's I think that was useful to talk through a little I think um Martha and
Dan and I can have the conversation with Town Council um she has office hours on Monday so if we get feedback we can bring it back to the board uh make a suggestion provide her
explanations of some of these questions and then um the meeting on the 26th which we were about to I think Woody was about to help us take a vote to continue
um should be a short meeting um we'll be reviewing this section and the flood plane the couple plan changes Woody would you like a motion to continue to the 20 26 at
6:30 yes that would be great you have it okay I did I just have three seconds okay a second thank you Mary for the meeting minutes thank you um all those roll call VA all those in favor uh
Peter yes Larry yes Scott yes Mary yes yes and Steve sure thing and I vote Yes as well so um we don't have any more raised hands we don't have any more questions
any more comments and entertain a motion to adjourn I'll move to adjourn and all second thank you Mary thank you live hold on hold on if I may chair Knight I just would like to extend a reminder to
the board that we have a site walk on the 25th at 10: a.m. at gadsdon Lane in case any of you have forgotten just wanted to remind the board Salk 25th 10 thank you so much that's next Tuesday Daniel
right yes sir at 10: am okay thank you thank you for that reminder okay we have a motion to adjourn in a second all those in favor Peter yes sir
Mary yes Scott and Steve yes right thank you everyone and have a great night thank you good night thanks see you guys