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During Sudbury’s 2025 Annual Town Meeting, voters approved Article 28, which was a new local bylaw covering accessory dwelling units (ADUs). That came about in the wake of the Affordable Homes Act, which made ADUs allowable by right across the state in August of 2024. On October 14, the Massachusetts Attorney General, who is responsible for reviewing and approving local bylaws to ensure they comply with State law, provided only partial approval for Sudbury’s ADU bylaw.
The Sudbury Planning Board endeavored to develop a local bylaw while the State was relatively slow to roll out final regulations. Those didn’t arrive until February of 2025, just a few months before Sudbury’s Annual Town Meeting, and nearly a month after the Annual Town Meeting warrant is closed in Sudbury. That’s all in addition to the fact that the legislation was brand new, with few examples of local bylaw implementations in other municipalities.
That parallel path scenario created a bit of a blurry, moving target for municipalities.
The Planning Board was also clear during deliberations that they wanted to maximize local control as much as was allowable under the new State law, making partial approval a mix of victory and defeat. They’ve managed to get a bylaw approved, less a few provisions that may have pushed a little to far for the Attorney General’s liking.
With regard to the pieces the Attorney General’s Municipal Law Unit struck down, they were summarized in the ruling:
“We partially approve Article 28, except for the following provisions: (1) references to single-family dwellings; (2) portions of Section 5522 imposing minimum lots size requirements and setback requirements that apply to the principal dwelling; and (3) a portion of Section 5526’s parking provisions, that we disapprove and delete as shown in Section IV above in bold and underline.”
If zoning is your cup of tea, the full ruling is embedded below.