Sudbury Select Board orders new firearms-bylaw maps after planner finds only one viable site

SUDBURY — December 19, 2023 — Sudbury's firearms zoning draft would permit a single viable site, sending the board back to maps. Town Planner Adam Burney told the Select Board Dec. 19 that the current draft's 500-foot setback from residences, parks and the Bruce Freeman and Mass Central rail trails leaves only two adjacent parcels — Soul of India at 103 Boston Post Road and a Herb Chambers parking lot — in zoning district ID-4, and that the draft's anti-clustering provision means only one could ever hold a license. Chair Janie Dretler directed Town Manager Andy Sheehan to have Burney produce maps modeling 100-foot and 250-foot setbacks. Member Charles Russo, citing the Giffords Law Center, said "the biggest protection you can have is the special permit process" and pushed to add storage-security and alcohol-proximity language. Member Lisa Kouchakdjian renewed her call for a total ban; Town Counsel Lee Smith of KP Law said his advice against one has not changed because "it is almost a certainty that the town will be sued." Warrant articles are due Jan. 31. The board also unanimously appointed William "Granger" Atkinson to the Park and Recreation Commission and approved 2024 license renewals 5-0.