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On Wednesday, April 10, the Sudbury Planning Board held a public hearing to discuss the proposed Firearms Safety Business Use Bylaw, and to hear from the public. Sudbury Select Board member, Charlie Russo, presented the bylaw to kick things off. After a public comment, the board members offered high level comments and voted to recommend approval of the bylaw amendment unanimously. (1:18:00)
The common theme among the board members’ comments was that the bylaw provided more control than the town currently has to regulate such business uses. Some members noted that the the bylaw could be amended and improved in the future, and Russo indicated that Acton, which passed a similar bylaw last year, is already considering updates to their bylaw.
The bylaw heads to Annual Town Meeting with the support of the majority of the Select Board and the full Planning Board. However, the Zoning Board of Appeals has not taken a position on the article.
The bylaw designates the Select Board, not the Planning Board or Zoning Board of Appeals, as the permitting authority. That matter came up during the public hearing, and it was pointed out that it was not necessarily unusual, as other communities with similar bylaws have done the same thing. It’s also consistent with the manner in which Sudbury regulates 5G wireless small cell infrastructure. However, neither the Planning Board nor the Zoning Board of Appeals were formally involved in the development of the bylaw, which has been raised as a point of concern by the members of the Select Board who do not support the bylaw.
The bylaw is article 16 on the Town Meeting warrant. You can review it on page 25 here.