Zoning Amendment Public Hearing - October 19th, 2021 @ 7:30PM

Zoning Amendments for October 30, 2021 Special Town Meeting

The Planning Board will be holding a public hearing on Tuesday, October 19th, 2021 at 7:30PM, to consider four proposed amendments to the Town of Stow Zoning Bylaw. Indstructions to join the hearing via Zoom are provided below, along with summaries and full annotated texts of the proposed amendments.

NOTE: The Public Hearing regarding a proposed amendment to the Industrial District to allow Private Schools by Special Permit in the Industrial District will be held the following Tuesday, Oct 26th. More information about that amendment and the link to join that hearing may be found HERE.

Instructions for accessing the online meeting:
Join the Zoom Meeting Online at: https://us06web.zoom.us/j/85167075658 Meeting ID: 851 6707 5658
For Audio only: Dial 1 929 205 6099, when prompted enter Meeting 851 6707 5658#

  1. Active Adult Neighborhood Overlay District, sections 1.3, 5.4.9, and 7.3 (Annotated Full Text)                                                                                                                                                                Planning Board Summary: Following the revisions to the Active Adult Neighborhood Overlay District approved by voters at the May 2021 Annual Town Meeting, the Planning Board discovered inconsistencies between the floor area definitions of different allowed housing types. The proposed amendment would clarify the building requirements by providing a single definition of floor area for units in an Active Adult Neighborhood. The Planning Board has also recognized that the parking needs of an Active Adult Neighborhood may be different than a traditional residential development. The amendments to Section 7.3 would exempt Active Adult Neighborhoods from the Schedule of Minimum Parking and instead allow the Planning Board greater flexibility in regulating parking in Active Adult Neighborhoods by placing relevant standards in the Active Adult Neighborhood Rules and Regulations.
  2. Registered Marijuana Overlay District, sections 3.10, 5.5, and 10 (Annotated Full Text)                                                                                                                                                                          Planning Board Summary: In 2018 Town Meeting approved a Registered Marijuana Overlay District which prohibited all categories of recreational marijuana establishments, unless or until voters allowed such categories of uses through a subsequent Town wide ballot vote. At the ballot, Stow voters approved testing laboratories, marijuana product manufactures, and marijuana research facilities as permitted uses in the Registered Marijuana Overlay District. These proposed amendments update the Zoning Bylaw to reflect this election outcome, eliminating language regarding the voting process, and to make it clear which uses are currently permitted in the overlay district. The amendments also remove the language of Section 10, the previous Temporary Moratorium on Recreational Marijuana Establishments, which is no longer in effect due to passage of the Registered Marijuana Overlay District
  3. Special Permit Sidewalk Requirements, sections 1.3 and 9.2.7.14 (Annotated Full Text)                                                                                                                                                                   Planning Board Summary: A sidewalk along the entire frontage of a property is currently required as part of Special Permit approval in Stow. This amendment provides both the Planning Board and property owners greater flexibility in reaching compliance Special Permit requirements. Rather than focus solely on sidewalks, the amendment also aligns with the Town’s Complete Streets Policy and provides a menu of options for complying with the Special Permit requirements depending on the specific nature of the site and the preference of the property owner.
  4. Signs, section 6.3 (Annotated Full Text)                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                   Planning Board Summary: The Planning Board is proposing a targeted amendment to the portion of the Zoning Bylaw that regulates signs for the purpose of allowing businesses in certain districts to continue to use internally illuminted signs, such as “open” signs, until such time as a more thorough review of sign bylaws may take place. This amendment would permit a single internally illuminated sign up to three (3) square feet in size for each establishment within the Business, Compact Business, Industrial, and Refuse Disposal zoning districts. Internally illuminated signs would remain prohibited in the Residential and RecreationConservation Districts. A severability clause has also been added to ensure that should one section of the sign bylaw face judicial review, other sections may remain in effect.