In advance of Town Meeting on April 7, 2011, the Planning Board and Town Planner would like to provide residents context around the following three Planning Board-sponsored warrant articles.

·         Article 19: Amend Zoning Bylaw – Zoning Bylaw Recodification

·         Article 20: Amend Zoning Bylaw – Updated Federal Floodplain Overlay District Map

·         Article 21: Amend Zoning Bylaw – Site Plan Approval Requirement for Day Care, Educational, Nursery School and Religious Uses

 

Funded by Town Meeting in 2006, this article is an important step toward making the Zoning Bylaws clearer for those who live in and/or conduct business in Wayland and for Town Officials who administer the Bylaws. This article was presented and subsequently passed over during the Special Town Meeting last fall to allow various interested citizens to further review the article and make additional improvements to it. The Planning Board and the Zoning Board of Appeals held five public meetings from December  to March to review proposed changes to the Bylaws, during which time many citizens met with members of the Planning Board, Town Planner, members of the ZBA and the Building Commissioner. For their valuable time and input we would like to thank everyone who attended these meetings, and in particular, we’d like to thank the following: Alice Boelt, Donna Bouchard, Lawrie Glick, Anette Lewis, Gretchen Schuler, William Steinberg and William Sterling.

This article represents the first phase of a thorough review of our Zoning Bylaws which began in 1986, when the Wayland Zoning Bylaw Committee defined recodification as: “A re-organization or re-structuring of the Zoning By-Laws of the Town without making any substantial procedural or substantive changes in such By-Laws.” Accordingly, the goal of this first phase was to make the bylaws moreunderstandable to laymen and has addressed several inconsistencies in language, grammar and format. The second phase, representing substantive changes to our Zoning Bylaws, will begin in the second half of 2011. Residents will see a number of public hearing notifications about these in the future.

For more information on the Zoning Bylaw Recodification, please visit: http://www.wayland.ma.us/Pages/WaylandMA_Planning/FAQRecodification.pdf

 

Changes to the Federal Floodplain Overlay District Map, §198-1702 of the Town Bylaw,  will help the Town maintain the eligibility in the National Flood Insurance Program and enable property owners to purchase insurance against damage to, or loss of, property in the event of a flood.  

 

The proposed changes will bring the Town’s Zoning Bylaw into compliance with the laws of the Commonwealth.  During the public hearing on March 1, 2011, no concerns were raised. 

 

Questions regarding these articles can be addressed to the Planning Board through the Wayland Planning Department. We look forward to your support of these articles at Town Meeting which begins on April 7.

 

Members of the Planning Board: Kent Greenawalt, Ira Montague, Kevin Murphy, Andrew Reck, Colleen Sheehan and Bill Whitney