Zoning Committee continues refining tree-cutting ByLaw after Town warrant is in place

After the Planning board initially reviewed the proposal, members said they were surprised that a new overlay district map wasn’t part of the proposal, and they pushed for the board to reconsider it. The Planning Board voted to hold spots for two commercial zoning articles on the Town Meeting warrant. One for the more aggressive screening rules proposed by ZAC and the other as a placeholder for the overlay district zoning with the understanding that it might be pulled out after further discussion. 

The Zoning Advisory Committee is continuing to work on strengthening the bylaw, by changing the percentage of the site area in residential and agricultural zones that can be cleared of trees, bringing it down from 40% to 20%, while leaving business and industrial zones at 70%.

The finished proposal will then be sent again to the Planning Board for further discussion.  The Planning Board hearing on this topic will be held on March 1st, 2021.

References: 

Feb 1, 2021 – Planning Board votes to hold Town Meeting spots for multiple proposed tree-cutting bylaw • Feb 18, 2021 – ZAC continues tree-cutting bylaw discussion, considers restricting site area alteration