Zoning Board urges Town Meeting to postpone Sudbury firearms bylaw

SUDBURY -- April 25, 2024, Sudbury Zoning Board of Appeals will ask Town Meeting to indefinitely postpone the firearms business bylaw. Members reached consensus Thursday that Article 16, which sets a 250-foot setback, caps firearm shops at two town-wide, and makes the Select Board the special permit granting authority, is structurally flawed and was drafted without input from the board that administers zoning. Member Frank W. Riepe, who brought the defeated 2023 citizen's petition, said he could only support the article if Section 2256 were overhauled, calling a cross-reference to a nonexistent paragraph a "blatant error." Select Board Chair Janie Dretler told the board two members had asked that the ZBA be included in drafting and were overruled, saying "I apologize for that." Select Board member Charlie Russo, who led the draft, urged support, arguing the shift from by-right to special permit zoning was the central change and that "there's no magic number" on setback distance. The board passed Article 16 by a 3-2 Select Board vote; the Planning Board unanimously endorsed it; the Finance Committee declined to vote.