Special Town Meeting Article "Vilified" ZBA, Some Selectmen Say

The Northborough Zoning Board of Appeals was “vilified” by the process around one Oct. 28 special town meeting warrant article, some selectmen said Monday night.

But, voters showed their support for the ZBA by failing to pass that warrant article by the two-thirds majority necessary, some selectmen said.

The citizen’s petition proposed removing the ZBA’s authority to grant use variances.  The vote was 84 in favor, and 151 opposed.

Monday night, Selectman Aaron Hutchins said that while the article failed, it “received at least a third of the vote.” 

Hutchins asked “whether it’s worth” discussing “does that indicate, then, that a third of the town is unhappy with the zoning board of appeals? If they are, does that mean that we as their appointing body need to do anything about it?”

He said he wanted to know the board of selectmen’s grounds for discussing not reappointing someone, “so I don’t have to get e-mails or letters from citizens saying ‘Why aren’t you doing anything about this?'” and not having a response.

Town Administrator John Coderre said he would get that information for selectmen. 

One term on the five-member zoning board expires in April, he said.

Selectman Jeff Amberson said that “the fact that that particular article lost by two-thirds, to me at least, tells me that the vast majority of people in town are happy” with the zoning board. 

“I don’t agree with every decision this board makes. That’s why you have a board. It does you no good to have a board where everyone agrees. Otherwise, there’s no point in it,” he said. 

The ZBA was “vilified through this process,” Amberson said.

“I think it’s extremely unfair. These people are volunteers who go out of their way to give their time to the town. For them to be put on a stage so people can take shots at them, I think is wrong,” he said.

Selectman Bill Pantazis said the ZBA must listen to both the applicant and the abutters before voting.

“Two-thirds of the people at the (special town) meeting voted in favor of the ZBA, basically,” he said.

“They had 100 signatures to get on the warrant, and they had only 84 that voted for it.”