Yarmouth Town Meeting: Accessory apartment bylaw changed, $3M for golf course approved
SOUTH YARMOUTH — Yarmouth residents were focused on one article at Tuesday's special town meeting: modifying restrictions on accessory apartments. The article passed with a two-thirds majority.
For the first time, town meeting was held at the new Dennis Yarmouth Intermediate School in South Yarmouth. The main auditorium, which has a capacity of 850 people, was almost full.
An article calling for amendments to a wetlands bylaw was withdrawn and all other articles were passed without conflict including approval of $1,233,067 for municipal sewer projects.
Changes to the accessory apartments bylaw drew a significant amount of discussion.
Before Tuesday's vote to approve changes to the zoning bylaw, accessory apartments were limited to units with family members, or affordable units that include specific provisions related to deed restrictions, maximum rental rates and tenant eligibility requirements.
The new bylaw eliminates the restrictions, allowing the property owner to choose their tenants and the rental fee.
Kathy Williams, Yarmouth town planner, told town meeting voters the zoning changes are aimed at creating more year-round smaller rental units so people working on Cape Cod can live here.
"It's also about facilitating people who want to age in place so they might be able to have a caregiver unit on their property and continue to allow family members to stay together but also allowing some flexibility by having separate spaces," she said.
Sharon Digennaro, of South Yarmouth, who suffered a head injury, has wanted to build an apartment in her basement for some time.
She said the process is confusing and the restriction on what she could charge for rent made it more difficult for her to build the apartment because of the increased cost of living over the last three or four years combined with not having a fixed income.
Digennaro wants to build the apartment for an aide, who could work with her 10 hours a week and pay partial rent in exchange.
"If you're considering the amendments, I am someone that would really benefit from this change and I am thankful for the town officials to come up with the changes," she said before the residents approved the bylaw changes.
TOWN MEETING RESULTS
WARRANT ARTICLE NUMBER | WHAT IS THE ARTICLE ABOUT? | PASSED, FAILED, POSTPONED |
1. Prior Year Bills | Transfer of $6,281.78 associated with years Fiscal Year 2022 and Fiscal Year 2023 expenses. | Passed |
2.Mattacheese Building Maintenance Costs: | $200,000 for maintenance costs of the former Mattacheese Middle School building. | Passed |
3. Opioid Settlement | Appropriate and transfer $10,042.55 to the Opioid Settlement Expenses Account for expenses related to substance abuse prevention. | Passed |
4. Fire Department Capital Expense | Appropriate and transfer $80,000 from the Fire Receipts Reserved for Appropriation Account for goods and services for Fire Department Capital expenses. | Passed |
5. Police Capital Expense | Appropriate and transfer $23,000 for the goods and services for Police Department capital expenses. | Passed |
6. Department of Natural Resources Capital Expense | Appropriate and transfer $82,000 for the goods and services for Department of Natural Resources expenses. | Passed |
8. Links Course at Bayberry Hills Golf Course Improvement Plan | Appropriate $3,000,000 to pay for golf course improvements on the Links Course at Bayberry Hills Golf Course. | Passed |
14. OPEB Expenses | Transfer of $1,050,000 to the OPEB Trust Account to help defray the costs of future otherpost-employment benefits. | passed |
15. General Bylaw change | Changes the name of the Board ofSelectmen in the Town’s general bylaws to Select Board | Passed |
18. : General Bylaw – Wetlands | Amend the Town of Yarmouth General Bylaws regarding Wetlands | Withdrawn |
19. Zoning Amendments - Accessory Apartments | Amend various sections of the Zoning Bylaw to modify certain provisions related to AccessoryApartments | Passed |
For more information about the articles on the special town meeting warrant go to: https://www.yarmouth.ma.us/1880/Yarmouth-Town-Meeting
Rasheek Tabassum Mujib writes about health care and education. Reach her at rmujib@capecodonline.com.
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This article originally appeared on Cape Cod Times: Yarmouth Town Meeting voters remove accessory apartment restrictions
