This is Night 6 - May 11 - of Town Meeting
They have Special Town Meetings within Town Meetings - a bit like a movie within a movie. They did that tonight. The Special Town Meeting Warrant is different from the main one. Here are the articles with links:
https://www.arlingtonma.gov/town-governance/town-meeting/2022-town-meeting-warrant-copy
The big news announced at 3pm today was a unilateral decision by the new moderator to shorten discussion on issues after 15 min of debate, by allowing 'straw polls' of thumbs up/thumbs down voting to end debate. This is somewhat shocking and seems to reflect the idea that, if Town Meeting is going to long, the part to get rid of is the hearing of issues and debating, rather than streamlining the procedure. Hopefully this rash step will be rescinded.
Below are the issues that I thought you and our neighborhoods would care about most...
You can click the blue article links to see the details around each article - including amendments which are all available as URL hyperlinks at the bottom of each article's own link. You can click this link to keep up with which Articles and Amendments or Substitute Motions have been passed/dealt with/stopped.
STM ARTICLES....
| Article 2 ZONING BYLAW AMENDMENT/ FAMILY CHILD CARE To see if the Town will vote to amend the Zoning Bylaw to update Section 2 Definitions, Section 5.4.3 Use Regulations for Residential Districts, Section 5.5.3 Use Regulations for Business Districts, and Section 5.6.3 Use Regulations for MU, PUD, I, T, and OS DISTRICTS to allow family child care as a by right use and to set standards and requirements in all Residential, Business, and MU districts; or take any action related thereto. |
| Article 3 : ZONING BYLAW AMENDMENT/ SIGNS To see if the Town will vote to amend the Zoning Bylaw to update Section 2 Definitions and Section 6.2 Signs to create a new sign type located at shared mobility and electric vehicle charging stations; or take any action related thereto. ...Would allow EV charging stations and bike share type locations to lighted freestanding sponsored (advertisements). This would allow lighted advertisements. It seems odd to me that the Town spend 20 years removing such signs - only to open them up again here, with no examples real-world signs that we might see... It passed. Article 4 |
ZONING BYLAW AMENDMENT/ NON-CONFORMING SINGLE FAMILY OR TWO-FAMILY DWELLINGS To see if the Town will vote to amend the Zoning Bylaw to update Section 8.1.3 Nonconforming Single-Family or Two-Family Dwellings to modify or remove Section 8.1.3 C;
or take any action related thereto.
This brought our rules on non-conforming ("grandfathered" properties that don't meet the current rules) to
be handled the same as in Commonwealth Law.
Though about zoning, it seemed procedural. It passed.
Back in (Regular) Annual Town Meeting, we resumed at the Town Budgets Articles 48+
The town is running a structural deficit (Town Hall is spending more than our taxes, which can go up no more than 2.5% each year, can cover). Part of the way the deficit is managed is by hoping for increased tax base (meaning development of new properties, but this is limited by our town's existing "fully developed" density. Indeed we are the 2nd most dense town in all of Massachusetts, and 11th community, if counting cities. So it's not sustainable to expect increased development/tax base as a way to deal with the structural spending budget. The structural deficit is about $7 million, after the US Government ARPA $5m funds disappear, growing to $24 million, which would require a large override in coming years. It can be seen in Appendix E of the The Town should consider trimming expenses to meet the property taxes and revenues collected. https://www.arlingtonma.gov/home/showdocument?id=60751&t=637860450416900688
| Article 50 APPROPRIATION/TOWN BUDGETS (See Appendix B of the Finance Committee Reports) |
