Politics & Government

Belmont Special Town Meeting, 2013

Four major articles will be voted on by representatives.

Welcome to Belmont Special Town Meeting. 

7:45 p.m.: Well, I am finally back from the Boys' Soccer game, (the Marauders are up 2-0 with 13 minutes remaining.) 

And the Town Meeting is just finishing up on the demolition delay presentation from the Historical Commission's Lauren Meier and the Planning Board. The Bylaw Review Committee is just adding a minor change to the Amendment. 

"Now we only have seven amendments to go," said Moderator Mike Widmer. In a way of streamlining the amendments, they are placed in three groups: definition of demolition, the opt out and other amendments.

Bob McGaw is discussing his definition of demolition; it's a ambiguous phrase with answers from the Historic Commission that it's only regards to full demolition and owners had the flexibility to change the structure so that it's no longer historical. The purpose is only to put words on paper what the Commission is thinking. Fred Paulsen, Pct 1, says that the language in the bylaw is a compromise with a reduction of structures on the list, and a sunset clause etc so the Town Meeting should defeat it. And it does as the Town Meeting defeats the definition amendment.

Roy Epstein, Pct 6, definition is to excluding a "building that is a detached garage and other accessory structure." Epstein basically wonders that these buildings are not part of the   HDC is unfavorable because the list includes a few accessory buildings so that this amendment would remove those structures. It's defeated. 

Now the opt out amendments: the three authors will speak for two minutes.

McGaw said owners should be given the opportunity to opt out rather than being forced to be opted in. James Aylward said "we should have the right to choose to be on the list" rather than being forced on it. "No one from the Historic Commission came to visit us ... and should have reached out to the owners." This bylaw was said by the Historic Commission as the first "baby step" in placing more homes on the list and increased regulations. Look at Watertown where housing sales are being reduced due to its demo delay regulations. 
Eric Smith, Pct 6, said the bylaw is a burden on the owner to show the negative. My amendment puts the burden on the commission to prove its historical significance. 

The Board of Selectmen, Warrant Committee, the Historic District Commission and the Planning Board all recommends unfavorable action on all the amendments. So the group that constructed this hybrid amendment are holding tight. Meier says that any opt out amendment was a "non-starter." 

David Powelstock, Pct 4, said the opt out amendment would defeat the purpose of the law. What if citizens opt out of the town's speeding law. 

Joel Samuelson, Pct 6, asks if opt out language been adopted by another municipality. No one knows.

The McGaw amendment is defeated.

8:30 p.m.: Vincent Stanton, Pct. 3, has to read the amendment for Mr. Aylward who is not a member of Town Meeting. Stanton said while supporting the bylaw, it really won't stop a homeowner from tearing down their own house - it'll take more than six months just to get everything in place to demolish the structure! – so the new bylaw will not truly impact decisions. 

Ana Helena Cruz, Pct 5, asks how many buildings have been saved in other towns with similar bylaws. Meier said in actual numbers of saved buildings, she just doesn't know. But says a study suggests that demo delay bylaws provides economic benefits to municipalities.

The Aylward amendment is defeated. Next up is the Smith amendment which relates to the appeals process where the Commission should have the burden to prove that the house belongs on the list. 
Finally a person in support of an opt-out amendment. Bob McLaughlin, Pct. 2, said he approves the amendment. He said the list is not as perfect as the Historic Commission believes and says that the burden should be on the town if an owner contests the inclusion of the property on the list. 
Jack Weis, Pct. 1, says the expertise is with the Historic Commission so they need to prove what is historic. 
Andrew Dash, Pct. 1, said that this amendment has "hit the sweet spot" and is really picking "low hanging fruit" of the buildings most in town would agree is historic or significant. To put the burden on a volunteer body is unnecessary as its online. And Dash says the amendment is actually a rather meek amendment, it just kicks [the demolition] down the road. But even if the delay is only six month long, some good can come from it.  
Roger Wrubel, Pct. 5, said the historic commission should be able to explain why its on the list. 

9 p.m.: Now the vote. Widmer said the amendment was defeated, "Oh no it's not!" came the cry of the crowd. So a standing vote. The final result: 113 yes, 127 no. Very close.

There are two more amendments which is simply the replacement of a word, Defeated.

Now the vote on the article is before the Town Meeting and it passes. Belmont has a demolition delay bylaw. 

Now up the citizen petition for a Yard Sale Bylaw. Stephen Ganak, who got 120 citizens throughout the town to sign his petition, speaks on his petition which is based on bylaws in Arlington and other towns. He discovered that his neighborhood is not the only one hit by "an unneighborly neighbor." "This has hit a nerve," he said.

There are three amendments to be heard. Mark Smith, Article 8, which is very simple to eliminate the licensing aspect. That requirement is unnecessary and a burden on the town and citizens. My view is that the bylaw will do just what the license will do. It's just a big hassle to go to Town Clerk and get one. What this does is to get people in trouble not having a license. Town Clerk Ellen Cushman said it will not be a paper license but an online enrollment system. Jack Weis, Pct. 1, said without a paper trail, how could you tell if a person is violating the bylaw. Mark Paolillo, chair of the Board of Selectmen, said the mechanism is needed to objectively measure the number of yard sales to see if there is a violation. Sara Oaklander said the licensing prevision is "over the top" for busy people. David Alper said no one is preventing anyone from having a yard sale, it will be there to protect the lives of people in the town and doesn't force the neighbors to "tattle" on others. Kimberly Becker said that the licensing prevision is unenforceable since if a person doesn't get a license, who is not to know. Helen Golding, Pct 1, said the article is creating a huge drag net that takes in not only outliers but average citizens. Jennifer Page, Pct. 3, asked if licensing is required in other towns? Arlington, Weston and Lexington all have regulations, said Ganak. Mark Wagner, Pct. 5, said a licensing provision will get those stubborn people who violate the bylaw without putting a burden on everyone else.

Vote on the amendment is taken and it is defeated. 

It's 10 p.m. Town Meeting, the purgatory of local government. 

Jennifer Page, Pct. 3, has an amendment concerning neighborhood yard sales so that a number of homes can hold a single yard sale without penalizing all the participants. Page said that her neighborhood really loves the community yard sale and would like to have an amendment that promotes this type of neighborhood activity. The amendment is adopted.

The final amendment is from Edward Kazanjian who is withdrawing his measure on defacing poles and 

Now to the article. Sue Bass, Pct 3, is sympathetic to the plight of a "neighborhood nuisance" but this article is an overreach and not "throughly cooked out." Vote no but not without thinking of Ganak but it should be brought back in the spring in a new version. Oaklander said the bylaw is overreach and Paul Roberts believes that his neighbors should be able to be "gauche" and have several sales a year but maybe the Planning Board or another entity can regulate a person seeking to run a business on his front lawn. David Alper said that there is a law that regulates grass and that give gives recourse to neighbors that can use the town to resolve these issues, I support it to give residents a tool to use. Jeanne Mooney, Pct. 6, said some of the reality is not functual. Existing laws are already on the books, said Rachel Berger, Pct. 2, and they need to be enforced. 

The article is being voted on - and it passes; 114 to 98. 

A quarter to 11 p.m., and Ralph Jones is up with his proposal for a "Residential Snow Removal" bylaw.

This is not overreach, said Jones but it is an effort where Town Meeting comes together to support public safety. Citizens should provide education, police and sweep sidewalks. The state has snow removal laws on the books for 200 years because they work. Enforcement is a warning and then a ticket.

Wait a minute. Widmer said there was a math error in the vote on the yard sale amendment: it actually lost, 94 to 98.

Back to the snow shoveling bylaw. Joel Samuelson, Pct 6, has a question about enforcement, with 5,000 houses in Belmont, couldn't there be a situation where writing the citations and appeals places a burden on town officials and workers. "No," said Jones. Donald Mercier, Pct. 8, said it is tremendously "un-American" to force people to work on public property and this law would not pass muster at the Supreme Court. But Jones said the essence of democracy is town meeting placing burdens on each other for the common good. Jenny Fallon, Pct 1., said it is well overtime to pass the bylaw. Ana Helen Silvia Cruz, Pct. 5, asked that it appears to be fundamentally dishonest to force people to do what the town should be doing. Paul Roberts, Pct. 8, said that unlike a nuisance bylaw like the Yard Sale proposal, "this is a public safety issue." He said that he town could incorporate crowd sourcing to find snow "hot spots" via the internet. Demetri Moustakas said that the law should also include cleaning out the hybrid. Kathleen Baskin, pct. 8, said she sees a dangerous situation on her street of Munroe Street as children compete with cars after snow storms. 

The debate is closed. And the article passes by voice vote.


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