Belmont Special Town Meeting Warrant Set, Agreement on Demo Delay Article

Town Meeting representatives will debate and vote on five articles as the official Warrant for the Special Town Meeting on Monday, Nov. 4 was signed by the Belmont Board of Selectmen in a quick, morning meeting held today, Monday, Oct. 7 at Town Hall. 

The approximately 290 representatives will consider three new bylaws and a capital expenditure item when they meet at the Chenery Middle School at 7 p.m.

Up on the docket will be new bylaws that will place limitations on yard sales, cleaning snow from your sidewalk and delaying the demolition of historically important residential homes.

While the yard sale initiative will come before the town's legislative body for the first time, the snow cleaning and the demo delay articles were on the annual Town Meeting warrant in June but were pulled for a number of reasons including the perception that they did not have the support to pass.

On the money side will be a vote to continue an existing bond – for the installation of air vents at Belmont High School – that is scheduled to expire to install a new turf surface at Harris Field.

Initial estimates were that the field, a new pad under the surface and additional work could cost as much as $900,000 to $1 million.

(The Capital Budget Committee will meet at the field – where several Belmont High sports teams play on the field in the fall and spring – on Wednesday, Oct. 9, at 8 a.m. to discuss the plan and make a recommendation that they will present to Town Meeting.)

As for the demolition delay article, the Belmont Planning Board met before the Selectmen to discuss and approve the latest version of the new bylaw which will delay for up to six months the razing of more than 150 houses from a list compiled by the town's Historic District Commission. 

The Planning Board voted to support the article as long as Town Meeting representatives receives the list of homes under the bylaw's protection before the Nov. 4 meeting.

The article, which is sponsored by the Commission, has been changed significantly since it was first proposed more than two years ago. Fore instance, owners of homes on the list will be able to appeal to the Selectmen to be removed. In addition, the delay will now be six month rather than a year as the Commission had wanted. And the number of structures to be protected has dropped from 215 to 150 as houses in historic districts, commercial properties and in the McLean campus  have been removed. 

The bylaw also has a sunset clause that takes effect on June 30, 2016.

The complete warrant will be on the Town Clerk's website in the near future.