Freetown Planning Board unanimously backs two zoning articles for October special town meeting

FREETOWN — August 20, 2024 — Freetown Planning Board votes unanimously to submit two zoning bylaw articles for October special town meeting. The board's five members — Chair David Crow, Chris Melo, Gary Amaral, Chad Cavaro, and Steve Tripp — approved both articles at a brief August 20 meeting ahead of a September 5 warrant deadline. The first article would renumber and reformat the entire zoning bylaw as Chapter 300 under a new codification system prepared by General Code LLC; the second would remove a provision that inadvertently required the town itself to seek a special permit before posting any sign, including routine speed limit markers. Tripp described the broader effort as eliminating "a whole mess" of overlapping old and new bylaw language, with the reorganized code to be posted online in searchable form. A public hearing on the two articles is expected at the board's September 17 meeting.