[0:03] [music]
[0:06] » Hey East Ham, welcome back to Turn It Up
East Ham, the town's official podcast.
[0:10] My name is Kayla Arcaro and I am the
town's communication coordinator. Today
[0:14] I'm joined by Paul Lag, our community
development director.
[0:17] In this episode, we're going to discuss
the upcoming zoning amendments and what
[0:20] they will look like at our May town
meeting. We know zoning can feel
[0:24] complicated, but it affects all of us in
a community as a whole.
[0:28] So Paul, let's get started and kind of
talk about what these amendments mean
[0:32] for our community. Okay, well thanks for
having me. A pleasure to be here, Kayla.
[0:36] Yeah. Uh this year's town meeting has a
slate of different zoning amendments and
[0:41] they cover a range of topics
from uh affordable housing to prohibited
[0:47] uses, uh sign code, and some zoning
administration items. So it's a wide
[0:52] variety of things that um
are important topics for this year's
[0:56] town meeting. Awesome. And kind of just
to back up a little bit, can we talk
[1:00] about what exactly zoning is and why
it's important for our community?
[1:04] Sure. So zoning is essentially the
practice of
[1:09] dividing the town into different zones
or districts. And the reason we do this
[1:13] is to
have land uses that are compatible and
[1:17] appropriate for the different parts of
town. So
[1:20] the goal is to have residential zones
and where they are appropriate as
[1:25] opposed to commercial and industrial
zones and so we don't necessarily end up
[1:28] with an industrial factory located right
next to a residential area.
[1:33] Um compatibility of uses creates a
predictable
[1:37] development pattern and we want to make
sure that really the zoning works for
[1:42] the and you know, the enjoyment of the
residents so that we have uh quality of
[1:46] life and the character of the community
is
[1:49] uh is maintained.
Okay. And so I know you don't do this by
[1:53] yourself. Um the zoning task force plays
a big part in this and I know you've
[1:56] been really hard at work with them over
the last couple years. Can you kind of
[2:00] explain how they fit into all of this?
Sure.
[2:04] So, the Zoning Task Force is a
an advisory group that was appointed
[2:09] about 6 years ago by the Select Board.
It's comprised of representatives from
[2:13] the Planning Board, the Zoning Board,
the Affordable Housing Trust, and our
[2:18] newest member is a representative from
the Climate Action Group, and we have
[2:22] some at-large members. So, they're
advisory to the Select Board, and
[2:26] they're really tasked with examining the
zoning bylaws to identify areas that
[2:31] need improvement and make
recommendations that ultimately go to
[2:34] the Select Board and to Town Meeting.
The approach that and and myself and my
[2:39] staff work closely with the task force.
The approach that we've taken over last
[2:43] few years is to
um look at the other guiding documents.
[2:48] So, we have the zoning bylaw, but we
look at the other guiding documents of
[2:50] the town, our strategic plan, our
housing plan, our open space plan, a lot
[2:55] of various plans, and they all have
recommendations and action items in each
[2:59] one. So, what we try to do is
look at the zoning bylaw and identify
[3:03] areas where the zoning bylaw is not in
alignment with
[3:07] the action items and the goals of the
community, and then we make
[3:10] recommendations for changes to allow
those other priorities to happen so that
[3:15] the zoning will complement and align
with those other priorities. So, that's
[3:18] the basic approach that the task force
takes, and that's where the
[3:21] recommendations really come from. Okay,
so you would say that the um these
[3:26] changes happen yearly, and that the
driving factors would be those other
[3:30] reports that the town follows?
Yeah, so these the strategic plan
[3:35] particularly, but again all we have a
lot of different plans and a lot of hard
[3:38] work and effort that goes into all those
plans. Our probably our most recent
[3:41] plan, the Climate Action Plan, is an
example of that, and so
[3:45] we want to make sure that the zoning
which really controls the land use and
[3:50] the development patterns
are able to not be not get in the way of
[3:55] the goals of the other town of the other
um
[3:58] development plans in town. Okay. So, I
know at the beginning um you mentioned
[4:03] that inclusionary zoning is going to be
a change on this year's warrant.
[4:07] Um
so we'll start with the housing and kind
[4:11] of the topic that's on everyone's mind.
Inclusionary zoning is all about
[4:16] creating affordable and workforce
housing in town, but it comes with its
[4:19] own challenges.
So, can you explain the purpose of
[4:23] inclusionary zoning
bylaw and why the town has a 10%
[4:28] subsidized housing inventory? Sure.
So, inclusionary zoning is a regulatory
[4:34] tool that tries to use the development
of market rate housing as a mechanism to
[4:40] create affordable and workforce housing.
And it's a it's a common tool, a lot of
[4:44] towns have it, and there's different
ways it can be um the the bylaw can be
[4:48] created and implemented in Eastham.
What it means is that
[4:53] when someone proposes to develop five or
more housing units and then when we're
[4:57] talking about market rate units,
the inclusionary zoning bylaw basically
[5:02] requires that the developer
create a certain percentage
[5:06] of those units that are either
affordable or
[5:09] workforce.
Um
[5:13] where the 20 where the the 10%
goal comes into effect is
[5:19] the state
of Massachusetts has a broad goal that
[5:23] they would like to see every community
in the Commonwealth achieve at least 10%
[5:28] of their year-round housing stock to be
affordable.
[5:31] Um
the mechanism for tracking that is um
[5:37] what's called the subsidized housing
inventory or the SHI list.
[5:42] And that's that's what the state that's
the official tally that the state has to
[5:45] say how for each community what what is
your percentage of affordable housing.
[5:50] Our inclusionary bylaw is set up to
basically create SHI units. So, we get
[5:55] credit towards that 10%.
But, um
[6:00] I guess it's important to note that, you
know, that's an important goal, but it's
[6:03] not
the only goal that Eastham has to, you
[6:07] know, deal with our housing issues. So,
we want to try to have um
[6:12] units that are affordable and attainable
and also have workforce units. And we
[6:15] really need housing at every
affordability level and really for every
[6:20] um
e- every sector. Um
[6:24] » [snorts]
>> So, as I said, the inclusionary zoning
[6:27] bylaw is really set up to have these
units that get created counted on the
[6:30] SHI.
Um
[6:33] that becomes a bit of a hurdle for
small-scale projects and
[6:38] um local developers.
Um because
[6:42] the requirements to get counted on the
state's list can be onerous and to be
[6:46] honest, can be quite expensive. It
involves running
[6:49] um housing lotteries and doing a lot of
um
[6:53] due diligence work, which
the danger is that um
[6:57] smaller-scale developers who aren't
really
[7:00] set up to handle these these expenses
and these costs,
[7:05] they may decide not to do their project
or they may decide to drop the number of
[7:09] units and kind of fall below that
inclusionary zoning bylaw trigger.
[7:14] And uh we want to avoid that because
either way, Eastham, the community loses
[7:18] out on potential how- affordable and
workforce units. So,
[7:22] » Okay. So, what exactly are the proposed
changes in this amendment for this year?
[7:26] Right. So, um
as I said, the the current bylaw is set
[7:30] up to
make every unit that we create through
[7:33] this bylaw count on the SHI. Again,
that's an important goal, but it's not
[7:36] our only goal. So, the main
um change that we're proposing is to
[7:41] basically create um
some flexibility for the developers so
[7:46] that not every unit that gets created
necessarily has to count on the state's
[7:51] SHI. We want to create
local action units that have the
[7:57] necessary protection so that they remain
affordable and workforce but don't
[8:01] necessarily require the developer to go
through all of the um
[8:06] mechanisms that required by the state in
order to get on the SHI. And what that
[8:10] really means is that um
there's as I said develop some
[8:15] flexibility for developers. And when I
say developers, what we really have seen
[8:19] um
lately and what we anticipate in the
[8:21] future, it's not really professional
housing developers. It's really local
[8:25] businesses
who are trying to reinvest in their
[8:29] commercial properties
um and add some housing, add some
[8:32] apartments and really for their
workforce and for our local workforce.
[8:36] So we want to make sure this bylaw works
for that
[8:39] um situation.
And so it's really trying to have some
[8:44] flexibility. At the same time
um
[8:47] we are making some adjustments to make
sure that while we're having the
[8:50] flexibility for the developers, we want
to make sure that we have
[8:53] proper controls on the town side. And
all of this really runs through the
[8:56] planning board. They're the
they're the um entity that makes these
[9:00] um approvals. So we want to make sure
the planning board has the proper
[9:03] regulatory tools to make sure that
what's best and what's in the best
[9:06] interest for the town um is also handled
when we have these types of
[9:10] developments. Okay. So from like a
broader perspective, why do you think
[9:14] this is important for our community?
Would you say the flexibility and the
[9:18] affordability
or kind of just as a whole um
[9:22] being able to add to a thriving
year-round community?
[9:26] Well, I'd say given
the housing crisis that we have, you
[9:30] know, anything we do on housing is
vitally important and it touches
[9:34] everybody's life because it's where we
live, it's our workforce, it's our
[9:38] caretakers, it's our whole community.
So,
[9:42] um
I think broadly it's just in it's
[9:44] important to the whole community. I
think um
[9:47] but the flexibility piece I think is
probably the single
[9:51] biggest part of from my view of what
we're trying to do to make sure that we
[9:54] don't lose the opportunity for
again, the local It's not It's not
[9:58] professional housing developers that
this amendment's geared towards, it's
[10:01] our local businesses who aren't in
necessarily in the housing game, but
[10:05] they're trying to
carve out some units to serve the local
[10:09] need. So, um and it goes back to
balancing
[10:12] the goals of the town, which is to yes,
make progress on the state's SHI towards
[10:16] that 10%, but we need affordable units,
we need workforce units at all
[10:20] affordability levels. So, this is really
trying to balance
[10:24] the regulatory tools to account for um
all the needs of the community. Okay,
[10:28] that makes sense, and it sounds like a
great change to what we currently
[10:31] already have.
Um
[10:33] I will mention that the inclusionary
inclusionary zoning bylaw is quite
[10:37] intense and complicated. Um there's a
lot more information than just what Paul
[10:41] covered, so please view our website,
talk with Paul if you have questions to
[10:45] fully understand um what's being
presented at town meeting.
[10:49] So, to kind of wrap that up and move on,
um another
[10:53] » [clears throat]
>> proposed change that we have coming up
[10:55] at town meeting is a sign code, and we
all are obviously familiar with signs
[10:59] and see them all over um
our community every day. So, can you
[11:03] kind of touch on what is coming with
that change?
[11:07] Sure. So,
um part of it is really um
[11:13] clarifying some language to um
to tighten up some ambiguity in in the
[11:18] bylaw. Um
And really to make it more consistent.
[11:24] Um I guess the main The main takeaways
are
[11:28] there are um
parts of the proposal that would
[11:31] prohibit certain types of um signs,
um particularly the um feather or the
[11:37] flag signs, which are kind of the
ones you see out on the roadway a lot um
[11:42] on the monopole. And um our bylaw sign
code really doesn't address those right
[11:47] now, so there's a lot of ambiguity about
whether they're allowed or not. Um
[11:52] again, the task force does a lot of
background work, a lot of research. We
[11:56] try to get input. Um and we did have um
a feedback session and work session with
[12:02] zoning board, planning board, select
board. And this the feedback we got was
[12:05] that um the most appropriate thing to do
would be just to prohibit those types of
[12:09] signs. And primarily, it's a safety
issue. Um Route 6
[12:14] is a dangerous roadway. You know, we're
working to make improvements on that,
[12:18] but we already prohibit um
um
[12:22] electronic billboard signs and signs
with scrolling messaging and so forth.
[12:26] And you know, those are distracting
those are distractions. And this is akin
[12:29] to that. So, it's really you know,
rooted in trying to make sure we don't
[12:33] have roadside distractions on an already
built busy
[12:36] roadway.
Um I guess the other thing I'll mention
[12:39] on that is
the other
[12:43] piece of the sign code is to um limit
the amount of time that um short-term
[12:47] rental signs can be displayed on
residential properties.
[12:50] Again, this is kind of a new phenomenon
where you know, with the rise of of
[12:54] these short-term rentals,
um these types of signs have been
[12:58] getting installed on properties and in
neighborhoods. And it really what the um
[13:03] amendment would do is basically require
that
[13:06] those types of signs could only be
displayed between May and October.
[13:10] And going back to my original point,
trying to make it um
[13:13] clarify, make it consistent with other
parts of the sign code. So, we already
[13:17] have regulations on the traditional real
estate signs, the for sale signs, the
[13:22] sold signs. And they those can only be
displayed for certain amounts of time.
[13:25] So, we're trying to make it consistent
and fair
[13:28] um
with the real estate signs. So, I think
[13:30] those are kind of the two big takeaways
on the sign code. Okay. Those make
[13:34] sense. Um can you kind of touch on if
you think that this will affect local
[13:39] businesses or short-term rental
owners?
[13:45] I think um
again, it's it's an issue of trying to
[13:49] make sure that the code is fair and
consistent. Um
[13:54] every
time you introduce a piece of
[13:57] regulation, there's going to be, you
know, pros and cons. We try to make
[14:00] um the recommendations
that seem um
[14:04] in best alignment with the purpose of
the zoning bylaw and the goals of the
[14:08] community and um
what we're trying to preserve as far as
[14:11] community character.
So, would you say that there's
[14:14] additional benefits than just safety to
our community? Is it
[14:19] to make it more uniform or kind of just
go back to everything being consistent?
[14:24] Yeah. Um
I think guys goes back to the first
[14:27] question of what is
what is zoning and
[14:31] it's really um
it's a method to try to
[14:36] um make sure that
the general welfare of the community is
[14:41] is guarded and upheld and that we, you
know, have rules and regulations that
[14:44] give the greatest benefit to the
greatest amount of people and as I said,
[14:48] there's going to be
pros and cons and different viewpoints.
[14:52] So, what we try to look at what is the
overall intent and purpose of
[14:58] the community. What's the character of
the community? What are the What are the
[15:01] um you know, the goals of the community?
And then we try to align those
[15:04] regulations as best we can to serve that
purpose.
[15:08] Okay. So, I think we wrapped up the sign
code. Um
[15:12] obviously, there's still signs allowed
in town and those will still be approved
[15:15] by the building department for use.
Yes, so sign permits are issued by the
[15:19] building department. I guess it I should
um mention that you know there are still
[15:25] a lot of opportunities for ample signage
in the sign code. So, businesses are
[15:29] allowed to have their permanent signs.
You can still have sandwich board signs.
[15:33] You can have open flags. You can have a
variety of different signs. So, again,
[15:37] we're you try to be sensitive to the
needs of the business community. It's
[15:40] obviously very important. So, it's as I
mentioned, it's trying to balance what's
[15:44] in the best interest of the overall
community without putting too much
[15:47] detrimental impact on the businesses.
But, it's always a balancing act. Yeah.
[15:52] » [clears throat]
>> Okay. So, we're going to move on to our
[15:54] next zoning change, and that is
prohibited uses.
[15:58] So, I think this is going to be a big
one for discussion at town meeting. So,
[16:01] if you could kind of just cover
the overview of what these prohibited
[16:05] uses will be in the article. Sure.
So,
[16:10] there's a few different components to
this. Um
[16:14] I guess the first one I'll start with is
the
[16:17] proposed amendment in prohibited uses.
The first one would be to prohibit
[16:21] um the use of formula businesses or what
what you would think of as chain store
[16:26] businesses.
And also the drive-thru facilities.
[16:30] Those would be prohibited in district E,
which is the commercial district in and
[16:36] around town hall, the windmill green,
and so forth.
[16:39] Um
last year we did some zoning amendment
[16:42] changes that basically prohibited those
uses in the northeast town corridor
[16:46] special district, which is the area in
and around Bracket Road. That's our
[16:49] primary commercial district.
This year we're proposing basically the
[16:54] same prohibition
on district E. And it's really for
[16:59] again, consistency and clarity in the
bylaw.
[17:01] Um
and to
[17:04] you know, really set the expectation of
what's in the best interest of the town,
[17:07] which as the work that's gone into a lot
of the zoning work in the past year few
[17:11] years in the strategic plan has really
focused on making sure we
[17:15] um protect the character of the town as
it is now and keep Eastham unique and
[17:20] special as it is and and and really on
the formula business it's to try to, you
[17:24] know, protect our local businesses and
our local small scale um, commercial
[17:30] aspects from outside influences which
would be maybe seen as inappropriate or
[17:35] counter to what we're trying to preserve
here in Eastham.
[17:39] In the drive-thru facilities uh, again,
counter to what we're trying to do on
[17:43] Route 6 which is already busy roadway,
dangerous um, drive-thru facilities by
[17:48] their nature are
vehicle oriented and so really
[17:53] everything we're trying to do with
zoning and land use is to lessen the
[17:56] impact and make it safer on Route 6. So,
again, um,
[18:00] recommending that those be prohibited in
the
[18:03] our commercial districts.
Okay. So,
[18:07] » [clears throat]
>> also within the that same article,
[18:10] there's going to be a few more topics.
There's, um, storage containers and, um,
[18:15] some changes to the RV and camper
bylaw. Right.
[18:20] If you want to talk on that.
>> sticking, yeah, so sticking with the
[18:23] prohibited uses, um,
there's a proposal that would deal with
[18:28] fences and this gets a little
uh, little wordy, so I'll try to, um,
[18:33] break it down as as best I can. So,
what the proposal is would be
[18:39] to prohibit the use of non-natural
materials
[18:44] on solid panel fences
along street facing property lines. So,
[18:49] that's kind of a lot, but um,
the zoning task force looked at this
[18:55] issue and found that this is kind of a
an issue that's starting to arise in a
[19:00] lot of towns. We don't see it too much
here in Eastham, so this is trying to be
[19:03] proactive, but
the use of vinyl fences, specifically
[19:06] white vinyl fences and, um, kind of the
detrimental impact that can have on the
[19:11] character of the community.
Um it's something that the task force
[19:15] felt strongly that if we, you know,
allow that to proliferate in town, it
[19:19] would kind of take away from again the
quality and character of our town, which
[19:22] is really rural
and a lot of greenery, a lot of street a
[19:26] lot of treescapes and naturalized
buffers in town.
[19:30] And um
so this is just trying to put a
[19:32] guardrail on very limited
instances and on the use of materials on
[19:38] fences. So again, this would just be
solid panel fences along your
[19:42] street-facing
property line.
[19:45] Side and rear um fences, no change at
all. You could basically you can do
[19:50] whatever you like, any kind of material,
anything you like.
[19:53] Um
picket fences, split rail fences,
[19:57] there's really no change. We're just
talking about where someone wants to put
[20:00] up a stockade or solid panel fence, they
would be
[20:03] basically it would it would require you
to use
[20:06] um a wood a wood material or some
natural material. Okay, so for
[20:10] homeowners that already have this, are
they kind of exempt until they need to
[20:14] replace or how are we going to handle
that? Yes, absolutely. So any this would
[20:18] not affect any existing fence. Um
those are exempt. It would those could
[20:23] remain in place until such time that
they
[20:26] um are replaced and at that point the
new fence would have to adhere to the
[20:32] the new requirement. Okay, so um
would this be enforced by the building
[20:37] department or like flagged in a
permanent process?
[20:40] Uh
it would be part of the enforcement um
[20:45] that happens in um the building
division.
[20:48] Um I think the first step that we try to
do and and I got to admit, you know, we
[20:53] need to do a better job, my department,
but um is education and outreach and
[20:57] making sure people understand
these new regulations and what they mean
[21:01] and when they take effect and, you know,
what the
[21:04] what the issues are. So
that's something I got to prioritize in
[21:08] our department and make sure we get the
word out if these if these new rules go
[21:11] into effect so that folks are are aware
of them. And then the goal with that is
[21:15] to lessen
the impact of having to do enforcement.
[21:19] Right. And
a fence doesn't currently require a
[21:22] permit, correct?
So it would be all up to public
[21:25] education and making sure our community
knows. Okay.
[21:29] » Um so I guess that kind of wraps up the
fences.
[21:32] Um
now we'll move on to the next prohibited
[21:35] use. Um would you like to start with
storage containers?
[21:39] Sure. So um
storage containers again, the
[21:44] the proposal is to prohibit the use of
metal storage containers, shipping
[21:49] containers on residential properties.
Again, this is something that the task
[21:54] force looked at as sort of a
um a phenomenon that's trying to take
[22:00] effect. It's not quite overly prevalent
in East Hampton, but again, it's trying
[22:03] to be proactive to avoid, you know,
potential issues in the future. Um
[22:08] so we're talking about metal shipping
containers.
[22:11] Um
and really the question goes back to
[22:16] your first question, what is zoning and
why do we have it? And it's really um
[22:20] to try to have guardrails on uses
and um appropriate uses in different
[22:26] parts of uh different parts of our
community. So the question really comes
[22:31] down to whether
these um containers, which are really
[22:35] industrial, commercial
units and intended for, you know, global
[22:40] shipping,
whether those are appropriate use
[22:44] to be in residential use for essentially
storage units or sheds. And
[22:49] again, the task force has looked a lot
at this issue.
[22:52] Um I know there's some differences of
opinion out there, so it you know, we've
[22:57] had discussions with the select board
and the task force and it's an ongoing
[23:00] discussion. I think probably it'll
continue um the next select board
[23:04] hearing, but um
it really is just a question of what's
[23:10] what's appropriate, what does the
community feel is appropriate um
[23:14] for the types of
uses and the types of materials used for
[23:17] for storage in the residential zones.
Okay, so um how is this going to affect
[23:23] business owners, homeowners that may
have these already?
[23:27] So um
assuming this prohibition went into
[23:31] effect,
there would be no change to the existing
[23:36] folks that have existing containers,
they could keep them until such time as
[23:40] they, you know,
get rid of them.
[23:43] Um
they would be treated as structures just
[23:46] like a
shed or an accessory building, so, you
[23:49] know, we would
be working to make sure that where they
[23:52] do exist, they meet the proper setbacks
from their property lines.
[23:56] Um there is an exception in the proposal
that would allow
[24:01] um folks who are running a home
occupation as a trade service, so
[24:05] landscapers,
you know, folks like that that are
[24:08] operating out of their house,
they could have one of these containers
[24:12] to store their equipment. Um the
requirement would be that the container
[24:16] would have to be um concealed with some
fencing or landscaping and so forth, but
[24:21] it does allow them to have one
container. And again, folks that have
[24:26] them already could keep them
as long as they meet the proper
[24:30] um
setbacks. Okay, so would this also
[24:33] require a permit with the building
department?
[24:37] Yes, so again, we would treat them like
other accessory structures, sheds, and
[24:42] so forth. Um we want to make sure that
they meet
[24:45] the appropriate setbacks, and that we do
that through building permit. Okay. And
[24:49] so I think we have one left, that'd be
campers and trailers. Um I know we
[24:53] currently have this bylaw, so I think
it's just some changes, it's nothing
[24:56] really new. Yeah, so this this isn't
necessarily prohibited use. We're
[25:00] actually trying to do the opposite.
We're trying to allow this as a
[25:03] permitted use. So, currently
um
[25:07] the regulation requires that anyone who
wants to store a camper, an RV, a
[25:12] recreational vehicle,
um vehicle trailer on their property
[25:17] is supposed to get a permit through the
select board.
[25:21] There isn't really
um a good
[25:24] procedure around it. It's just kind of
one of those rules that is on the books
[25:28] and um
you know, to be honest, it
[25:31] it gets ignored a lot. Not a lot of
folks come forth, so um kind of
[25:35] recognizing that and recognizing that,
you know, there are a lot of folks who
[25:39] have these types of vehicles, we just
want to actually make it easier
[25:43] and less burdensome. So, the proposal is
to remove the requirement for the permit
[25:48] and to make the storage of these
vehicles a by right.
[25:53] The only um change is that
the vehicles will have to meet um
[25:58] certain setbacks from your property
line.
[26:01] And so, we're trying to again trying to
streamline things, make it easier, but
[26:04] ensure that there's some basic um
guardrails on it just to protect
[26:10] against, you know, potential nuisance
issues with abutters and especially um
[26:14] potential issues with
um traffic safety, site clearances if
[26:19] you have things close to the road
sticking out into the road impeding um
[26:22] line of sight as you're pulling out of a
driveway. So, that's why um that's why
[26:27] the requirement for the setbacks is to
make sure we have some basic safety
[26:30] parameters.
There is um
[26:33] in the proposed amendment, there is
a language that allows someone who has a
[26:38] hardship that maybe can't meet the basic
setback requirements, but wants to store
[26:43] one of these vehicles, there is the
capacity for that person to go to the
[26:47] zoning board of appeals
and seek a special permit
[26:52] for extenuating circumstances. and then
the the zoning board could make a
[26:55] decision and it mitigate, you know, they
could allow it and maybe have a
[26:58] condition to mitigate any issues that
they might um
[27:01] they might identify, but again, it's
just to allow folks to be able to keep
[27:05] these vehicles and really do away with a
regulation that really wasn't
[27:10] effective in the first place. That makes
sense. And will the permit request still
[27:14] go through the select board?
No, so again, the the only time it would
[27:19] be required would be if there was a
hardship with meeting the setbacks. And
[27:23] in that case, it would go to the zoning
board of appeals. Okay. So, the change
[27:27] will just allow property owners to
up to their discretion follow the bylaw,
[27:32] but make the changes.
>> Right. Yeah, so basically you have a
[27:34] camper and RV in your yard. If you can
meet the basic setback, you don't need
[27:38] to do anything. Just just park the
vehicle where it's supposed to be and
[27:43] no problem. Well, I think that sounds
more helpful than what we currently
[27:47] have, so Yeah, I think so, too.
Um
[27:51] So, that kind of wraps up
all of our zoning changes coming for our
[27:56] May town meeting.
Overall, how do you think our community
[28:00] is going to take these and
what do you think the benefits are?
[28:05] Uh well, I just I just do want to
mention we didn't cover all of the
[28:08] zoning. Um there is a variety of them,
but I think we focused on the the most
[28:13] important ones, which was important. So,
there are some changes to our
[28:16] residential um
site coverage bylaw.
[28:20] Um but again, those are aimed at
streamlining um regulations and making
[28:24] it more clear, but I think
we focused on the most high-profile
[28:28] ones. Um
So, I think just just
[28:32] generally I would say um
you know, I guess I keep going back to
[28:37] your first question of what is zoning
and why is it important. Um
[28:41] it's easy to kind of look at it as a you
know, boring, complicated document with
[28:45] a bunch of rules and regulations, but it
really does affect the fabric of the
[28:49] community, the look and feel of the
whole community.
[28:53] What types of businesses, what types of
amenities can happen, what types of
[28:58] activities can happen. So, it's
definitely a document that
[29:01] folks should be familiar with and take
an active part in. And so, really um
[29:07] it's important that folks understand
what these what these amendments are. Um
[29:12] And ultimately, um
it's up to the voters. At town meeting,
[29:17] they get to set they get to decide
what's appropriate for a community and
[29:21] what what they want to see. Um but
again, a lot of lot of hard work has
[29:24] gone into the recommendations, a lot of
discussion.
[29:28] Um
all of this information is on the town's
[29:31] website. Mhm. And there's a
recommendations report um that kind of
[29:35] summarizes. Again, it's a lot of Some of
it is technical and difficult language,
[29:40] but we um try to break it down in our
summary report
[29:43] to make it um
as easy as possible to
[29:47] to understand. And you'll be available
if residents have questions?
[29:51] Yes. So, I'm always available and I'm
happy to meet with anybody who has
[29:55] questions or concerns, just wants to
learn more on on any of these topics or
[30:00] anything else for that matter. Um
I'm at the town hall and I'm always
[30:05] willing to meet with whoever
wants to have a discussion. Awesome. And
[30:09] we also will be reviewing these articles
at pre-town meeting? That's correct.
[30:13] » So, that's a great opportunity to come
and sit down and actually see what's
[30:17] going to be presented in May. Right. Um
the planning board started their public
[30:22] hearing. Um so, all of all of these
regulations require that they have at
[30:26] least one formal public hearing. We have
actually had a number of meetings over
[30:30] the past um
year as we developed these, but the
[30:33] formal public hearing was started on um
this past week on the 18th.
[30:38] Um the hearing still open. It got
continued to March 30th. So,
[30:42] there'll be opportunity for more
discussion and more um public feedback
[30:47] on the 30th, and that's when
the
[30:50] planning board will vote on their
recommendations
[30:53] to town meeting on these issues.
Awesome. Well, thank you so much, Paul.
[30:57] I think this was really informative, and
I hope residents feel the same, and
[31:00] maybe they'll come see you with
questions. All right, I hope they do.
[31:03] Thank you for having me. So, thank you
for joining us in today's episode of
[31:06] Turn It Up Eastham. We covered a lot of
zoning amendments and what they'll look
[31:10] like at our May town meeting, so make
sure to stay informed, look up this
[31:14] material, and come with an educated vote
to town meeting in May. Remember to
[31:18] subscribe and like us on social media
for more updates and information. Thank
[31:22] you.
[31:25] » [music]