Public Forums on Proposed Zoning Bylaw Revisions:
Monday, April 30, 2012
Thursday, May 17, 2012
Last year Town Meeting appropriated $30,000 for the Planning Board to hire a consultant to assist the community in making selected revisions to the Town’s Zoning Bylaws. The Planning Board hired Joel Russell and Associates in the summer of 2011 to undertake this task focusing on several priority issues including the following:
- Special permit and site plan review criteria and procedures
- Multifamily development
- Flexible development
- Affordable housing
- South Hadley Falls
- Consistency with the Master Plan
- Home occupations
- Purposes of the zoning districts
- Parking requirements
Over the past 9-10 months, the Planning Board has worked with Joel Russell and Associates to develop proposed Zoning Bylaw amendments which will be further refined and brought forward for Town Meeting consideration later this year. The drafts of these proposals as well as a summary of the proposals are currently posted on the Planning Board’s web page:
http://www.southhadley.org/Pages/SouthHadleyMA_Planning/ZBRProject/
The next step in this process is two public forums scheduled for Monday, April 30, 2012 and Thursday, May 17, 2012 (both at 7:00 p.m. in the Town Hall Auditorium). These forums will provide the public with opportunities to learn about and ask questions regarding the draft proposals and to offer comments for the Board and consultants to consider when making further revisions to the drafts.
The Planning Board encourages everyone to attend at least one of the forums and offer their input. If someone is unable to attend the forums, the Board would ask that they please review the draft proposals on the website and submit comments to the Planning Board by the end of May 2012.