Council Will be Presented with Town’s Zoning Recap

Interim Town Manager Terence Delehanty will appear before the Town Council at its Tuesday meeting with a Center Business District zoning law history that will include the zoning law changes that have taken place over the years.

“During several meetings with community members, business owners and other interested parties on the Center Business District infrastructure project, a growing concern was identified about the development and build-out of existing buildings in the Center Business District,” Delehanty said. “Concerns included whether or not residential properties are located in the Center Business District (CBD) when were zoning laws amended; how were the laws amended, and why residents of abutting streets weren’t notified of zoning changes.”

To gather the information, Delehanty and his team researched the zoning changes using advertisements, minutes, postings and news articles. They also used prior code books, town meeting articles, assessors maps, historical information and past annual reports.

The codes were first enacted in 1913 with the formation of a planning board and continue to present day. The memo will discuss the Center Business District, parking and boundaries. Delehanty hopes this can help clear up recent zoning issues, especially in the CBD.

“It is the opinion of the Town Manager that there are no single-family or two-family homes that border a business on Woodside, Cottage, Somerset or Bartlett avenues that are included in the CBD,” Delehanty said, adding that he is looking forward to this document being reviewed by the council and others town officials. The council meets in the Harvey Hearing Room in Town Hall at 7 p.m. on Tuesday, Feb. 6.