Sudbury Select Board votes 3-2 to send firearms zoning bylaw to Town Meeting

SUDBURY — January 31, 2024 — Sudbury Select Board sends firearms zoning bylaw to Town Meeting on 3-2 vote. The board voted Wednesday to place a bylaw restricting gun shops to a single commercial zone along Route 20 and requiring a Select Board special permit on the 2024 Annual Town Meeting warrant, over the objections of Chair Janie W. Dretler and member Lisa V. Kouchakdjian. Director of Planning and Community Development Adam Burney told the board only five Route 20 parcels would qualify under a 250-foot setback from sensitive uses, prompting a new clause letting the board waive the separation between gun shops if denying it would "effectively prohibit" a second business. Member Charles G. Russo, citing Town Meeting's roughly 64 percent rejection of a total ban in 2023, said the board should not "let the unobtainable perfect be the enemy of the good." Dretler said she still favors a ban: "There is absolutely no legal basis that requires the town of Sudbury to be required to have this bylaw." Earlier, the board unanimously ratified a $34,780,000 bond sale awarded to Roosevelt & Cross at 3.53 percent.