2018.04.23 Council Agenda Item 05

The Town Council’s Work Plan assigned to the Ordinance Committee the task of reviewing the town’s abutter notification requirements and considering amendments to the requirements if deemed warranted.  Over the course of several meetings, the Ordinance Committee evaluated abutter notification requirements town-wide for different types of development projects.  The Ordinance Committee is now recommending an ordinance amendment related to expanding abutter notification requirements for certain applications to the Board of Zoning Appeals (BZA).

Currently, for BZA applications not related to the use of a property and only involving structural development, only direct abutters are required to be mailed an abutter notice.  In its review, the Ordinance Committee recognized that, in many instances, the impacts of a project involving structural development can extend beyond direct abutters, especially as those impacts relate to impacts on water views.  Accordingly, the Ordinance Committee has recommended that the ordinance be amended to expand abutter notification requirements for non-use-related BZA applications to 250 feet from the project boundary for properties in the Water View Overlay District.  Abutter notice requirements would continue to remain the same for BZA applications related to properties not located in the Water View Overlay District. 

At the 3/12/18 Council meeting where this amendment was introduced, the Council requested that the BZA have an opportunity to review the proposed ordinance language and offer comment on the proposal.  The BZA discussed this matter at their 3/27/18 meeting. Also, at its April 3, 2018 meeting the Planning Board, acting as the Town’s designated Municipal Reviewing Authority, held a duly noticed public hearing on the proposed amendment. 

Attached are the ordinance introduction letter, the proposed ordinance language, a summary of the Planning Board’s 4/3/18 MRA Hearing, and a summary of the BZA’s discussion on this matter.