Montuori: We'll Try Again With Zoning Bylaw Rewrite

TEWKSBURY, MA — Town officials plan to introduce "some iteration" of the proposed zoning bylaws rewrite again at a future town meeting, Town Manager Richard Montuori said.

Five years of work went into the comprehensive rewrite of the town's bylaws and redraw of the zoning map. The rewrite went down narrowly in a town meeting vote May 5, getting 89 votes in favor and 47 against, for 65 percent approval.

A two-thirds majority is required for most zoning changes.

The zoning map redraw was withdrawn after the zoning bylaw rewrite failed.

But that doesn't mean town officials are giving up.

"As the current bylaw does not seem to function well at this time and the proposed bylaw cleaned up most of those problems as well as modernized a number of areas, yes a future town meeting will see some iteration of what was brought forward on Wednesday evening," Montuori said.

The town manager was surprised by the article's failure, he said, although he noted the two-thirds threshold is high. He blamed "a complex document and some misperceptions" for the defeat.

"It took five years, 44 Committee meetings, nine public presentations, nine informational videos, and had the unanimous support of the Planning Board, Board of Selectmen and Finance Committee," Montuori said. "In addition, it was available to many on the website and in the warrant for the 2020 Annual Town Meeting, but was withdrawn out of an abundance of caution for COVID-19 concerns that were brought to our attention."

Town officials are evaluating the next steps and hope to have a plan in the coming weeks or months, he said.

The proposed zoning update dates back to 2015, when the Board of Selectmen created a Zoning Bylaw Committee to work with consultants and cohesively update the zoning rules.

"The Tewksbury Zoning Bylaw has been amended 130 separate times since the most recent version was originally adopted by Town Meeting in 2002," the town meeting warrant handout noted.

The proposed update renamed some zoning districts, reduced the number of overlay districts, added new definitions and consolidates related information into single sections. The redraw eliminated split-zoned parcels and aligned zoning with the master plan, among other changes.

Opponents of the article said it was too big and that there was not enough communication about it. Proponents said it was consisted of needed organizational changes and came out of dozens of public meetings.

Christopher Huffaker can be reached at 412-265-8353 or chris.huffaker@patch.com.