Sudbury Planning Board declines to sponsor firearms sales prohibition

SUDBURY — September 28, 2022 — Sudbury Planning Board declines to sponsor a town-wide firearms sales ban. The board voted 4-0 with one abstention on Sept. 28 to not advance a Zoning Board of Appeals proposal prohibiting the sale, assembly and manufacturing of firearms, ammunition and explosives in all zoning districts, citing competing 2023 town meeting priorities. Chair Stephen Garvin and member John Hanks said there was no evidence of an active problem warranting the board's political capital; Hanks framed the motion as taking no position on the merits. Planning Director Adam Duchesneau said ZBA clerk Frank Reap traced an older village-business-district prohibition that had disappeared from the bylaw, apparently in a recodification. The board separately approved removal of a 26-inch pine at 15 Woodside Road — a roughly $3,500 job, per developer Daryl Nash — conditioned on planting two replacement trees along the scenic road frontage.