Town Sponsored Warrant Articles for 2027

At a glance

Based on auto-generated captions; names and details may be misheard.

What: the town manager's second outline of town-sponsored articles for the May 10, 2027 Annual Town Meeting, with planning staff reviewing the zoning concepts.
Where it stands: preliminary; the board was asked for direction on which articles to draft. A third outline is due in about two weeks. The board will have until January to decide debt exclusion ballot questions.
Next: staff to follow up on the airport fuel revolving fund, demolition delay for fire training, fire retardant shingles, and the shellfish board's two requests.

Items on the outline

Airport request to dissolve the fuel revolving fund; staff meet with finance and town counsel because it was created by special legislation and could not be recreated.
Municipal aggregation operational adder: state law changes end the revolving fund, so a new special stabilization fund and a transfer vote are planned.
Zoning map: continued RC and RC-2 phase-out (including a neighborhood where staff are working with a family), a remaining parcel to rezone, and a possible placeholder rezoning for the DPW facility.
Zoning bylaw: state-driven changes for accessory dwelling units and seasonal communities, possible state duplex legislation, a year-round restriction on new secondary dwellings (see Year-Round Restriction on New Second Dwellings), storage container extensions through a special permit, a covenant program 2.0 with a possible ground cover bonus (see Ground Cover Bonus for Covenant Units), year-round lot creation, formula and pop-up businesses (see Formula Business and Pop-Up Retail Bylaw), removing leftover tertiary dwelling references, and implementing new state variance and nonconforming structure standards.
Non-zoning bylaws: reorganizing the Historic District Commission roof and satellite dish rules, and reviewing the fire retardant shingles, trench safety and the 1997 street and sidewalk interim-control provisions as conflicting with state code or outdated.
Real estate: an easement conveyance to National Grid and other items still in review.
Financial and ballot: the sewer enterprise fund operating override was struck, school central office improvements added with funding unknown, and prior-year reappropriations pending.

Board input

Leslie Snell, director of planning, presented the zoning concepts. Related to the 2026 Master Plan, see Draft 2026 Master Plan.
Two items from the shellfish and harbor board (SHAB) came up: asking the legislature again for a home rule fix so its elected members with scalloping interests can vote, and moving the no-wake buoys about 150 yards farther out to slow high-speed ferries; staff thought the buoys may need Town Meeting action. SHAB members want to stay elected.
See also Demolition Delay Extension for Fire Training, Fire Resistant Shingles Bylaw, Pending Home Rule Petitions and State Housing Mandates Response.
The manager asked for clear yes or no direction early so drafting time is not wasted; the board was told ballot wording can be added or removed later.

Sources

Discussion time

About 14 minutes across 1 meeting (from transcript timestamps; approximate).

Meeting	Minutes
2026-10-21 - Select Board	14

Log

2026-11-04 - Select Board — Town Manager presented outline #3 of potential articles; no real objections from the board. New: a revolving fund for low-income community shared solar (Low-Income Community Shared Solar Revolving Fund); a possible conservation restriction for mitigation property tied to the Somerset Lane bike path (to be discussed in executive session); and pending ballot or funding items including an electrical-only phase of a barracks project estimated at about $2 million (facility name unclear in the captions; free cash or a one-year capital exclusion mentioned) and central office improvements. Authorized borrowing that could be rescinded is under review. The Finance Committee set a review schedule for the FY28 budget and warrant articles on 2026-10-27 - Finance Committee.
2026-10-21 - Select Board — Second outline of town-sponsored articles reviewed; planning concepts presented; no votes.