Stormy Weather

Welcome back!

To describe this week as “eventful” would be an understatement. It started with a winter storm that brought down trees and limbs all over Sudbury, leading to power outages and, even worse, internet outages. For residents who live in areas with marginal wireless coverage (also known as “almost everyone”) that could make for a rather long, isolated, snow day. Fortunately, an avalanche of virtual committee meetings carried on without much interruption on Monday. By mid-week we were getting hammered by rain, and municipal business continued at its torrid pace.

This week we have a newsletter-exclusive story on the firearm business bylaw the Select Board has been working on. That was a big chunk of their meeting, but not the only noteworthy item on their agenda. Check the news digest below for stories on www.SudburyWeekly.com covering the other items from their meeting, and more.

So, with all that said… here’s what we have for you this week:

1. Select Board Firearms Business Bylaw Moves Forward

2. Papers Pulled For Planning Board

3. SURVEY: Evaluating Your Child’s Educational Experience

4. Dollar Tree to Open In Sudbury Crossing

5. SudburyWeekly.com News Digest

Let’s get into it!

Select Board Firearms Business Bylaw Moves Forward

By Kevin LaHaise

During their last meeting of 2023, the Sudbury Select Board was accelerating to finish work on a zoning bylaw for firearms businesses. A three-member majority of the five-person board wanted to get it on the warrant for Annual Town Meeting by the deadline at the end of January.

To meet that deadline, they would need Town staff to conduct an analysis to see what combination of setbacks and other restriction would generate a sufficient number of parcels for firearms businesses to operate in Sudbury. The Select Board majority asked Town staff to conduct an analysis that reduces the setbacks for firearms businesses from rail trails and other sensitive/restricted uses. The initial draft of the bylaw had a 500-foot setback, and the majority asked Town staff to look at 100-foot and 250-foot setbacks.

The bylaw would, in addition to limiting the permissible locations for firearms businesses, cap the number that can get special permits to two in Sudbury, and apply several other regulations for the operations of these businesses.

In the packet for the meeting this week, Sudbury’s Director of Planning and Community Development provided the requested analysis. (Page 58) This was the primary focus of discussion during the Select Board meeting. In short, if they reduce the setbacks from the rail trails (Bruce Freeman Rail Trail and Mass Central Rail Trail) and all other restricted uses, to 250 feet, there are several parcels that would be eligible to apply for special permits to operate firearms businesses in ID-4 (Industrial District 4).

ID-4 is at the bottom of Goodman’s Hill Road at Boston Post Road, running along the southern side of Boston Post Road until the Wayland Board. That stretch of businesses includes Buddy Dog, Mercedes-Benz, Soul of India and much of the “Bougie Little Auto Mile,” as Sudbury Weekly likes to call it. But ID-4 is also bordered by residential uses on the north side of Boston Post Road, and directly to the west by The Coolidge. The general neighborhood includes a bike shop, multiple restaurants, a dance studio, a local coffee shop, a childcare facility and health services businesses.

The overall direction seemed to be that they would proceed with the bylaw using a 250 foot setback from sensitive/restricted uses, instead of the 500 foot setback in the initial draft of the bylaw. The bylaw, if it proceeds in this direction, would allow firearms businesses in all Industrial Districts, but no other districts. Then it would apply restrictions with a 250 foot setback from sensitive uses like childcare facilities and public parks. Once those restrictions are applied, the only parcels available to firearms businesses would be in ID-4. There was also some discussion of declassifying the rail trails as “public parks,” though there was a preference voiced for just reducing the setbacks from all sensitive uses from 500 feet to 250 feet. (2:05:06)

While the approach that was discussed would initially limit firearms businesses to ID-4, it’s possible that, as businesses open and close in any Industrial District, other parcels could qualify as permissible sites for firearms businesses. It comes down to restrictions in the bylaw. If a parcel is ruled out for a gun retailer solely because it’s too close to a daycare, but the daycare closes, then that parcel may become eligible to apply for a special permit to operate a firearm business. That could work in the other direction as well. For example, if a new daycare facility opened within 250 feet of the parcels in ID-4, it may make those parcels ineligible for a special permit. No such analysis was conducted for this week’s meeting, and there was no request for such an analysis to be done.

Town staff was given guidance to update the draft of the bylaw to reflect the setback strategy they discussed in the meeting. It’s expected to come back to the Select Board for further discussion in their next meeting, when they have all members present, as Member Roberts was unable to attend on Tuesday. In short: this bylaw may still be subject to significant changes as the warrant article deadline approaches.

Papers Pulled for Planning Board

Submitted by the League of Women Voters of Sudbury

Potential candidate John Sugrue has filed his intention (“pulled papers”) to run for Planning Board in the March 25 Annual Town Election. Sugrue is seeking re-election.

There are 17 open positions on this year's Annual Town Election ballot. You can find a complete list here. You can find information about how to run for office here and on the www.lwvsudbury.org website.

The period for potential candidates to file their intention to run is from Thursday, Jan. 4 to Wednesday, Jan. 31. Nomination papers (“signatures”) must be returned by Feb. 2. Any Sudbury registered voter may run for office. Potential candidates do not need permission from a board or committee to run.

According to the Town Clerk’s office, as of 12:00 p.m. Jan. 12, the following people have filed their intention to run:

Select Board

(2 seats, 3 years)

Janie Dretler

Sudbury School Committee

(2 seats, 3 years)

Karyn Jones

Lincoln-Sudbury Regional School District Committee

(2 seats, 3 years)

Catherine Bitter (Lincoln)

Moderator

(1 seat, 3 years)

Catharine V. Blake

Board of Assessors

(1 seat, 3 years)

Joshua Fox

Board of Health

(1 seat, 3 years)

Linda Huet-Clayton

Park and Recreation Commission

(2 seats, 3 years)

Laurie Eliason

Park and Recreation Commission

(1 seat, 1 year to fill a vacancy)

William Atkeson

Planning Board

(2 seats, 3 years)

John Sugrue

Commissioner of Housing Authority

(1 seat, 5 years)

Sherrill P. Cline

SURVEY: Evaluating Your Child’s Educational Experience

Submitted by the Sudbury SEPAC

Sudbury SEPAC is conducting a survey, “Evaluating your Child’s Educational Experience,” to better understand the needs of your students in Pre-K to 8 in SPS, private school, or an out-of-district placement. Once completed, the SEPAC will share the survey results with the School Committee, Superintendent, and Director of Student Services and highlight areas of strength and where there may be opportunities for growth or improvement.

The survey is anonymous and will be live until January 31, 2024. Your child does not need to have an IEP or 504 for you to participate.

Please feel free to reach out to [email protected] with any questions.

Dollar Tree To Open In Sudbury Crossing

By Kevin LaHaise

The Design Review Board met on Wednesday and provided feedback on signage to a representative for Dollar Tree. By way of the meeting, we learned that Dollar Tree is planning on opening a new store in Sudbury Crossing, near TJ Maxx, in the unit The Paper Store previously occupied.

Here’s the signage presented in the meeting:

Sudbury Weekly contacted Phillips Edison & Company, who manages the property, to confirm the news. A representative confirmed that Dollar Tree will be opening in the old The Paper Store location. The location is highlighted on their website:

SudburyWeekly.com News Digest

Here’s what you can find on the new website this week:

Select Board Recap: Voc Ed, Teen Center, Capital Planning and More

Our summary of this week’s Select Board meeting covers quite a few important updates for residents.

SPS Readies Articles for Annual Town Meeting

This week’s SPS School Committee meeting included a review of their articles for their 2024 Annual Town Meeting. Read on for the scoop.

Conservation Land: Trail Maps Get An Upgrade

If you like hiking and you like conservation land, you’ll probably enjoy this story about new trail maps for hiking on conservation land.

Now is the Time to Register

The League of Women Voters of Sudbury shares all the details you need to register to vote, or to update your registration.

Parting Thoughts

2024 is off to a hot start, and there’s no sign of things slowing down. At the same time, there are seats on major committees and boards for which no candidates have pulled papers. That could be a strategy, and there are many different philosophies on when to pull papers. But it’s an interesting contrast with an otherwise busy start to the year. Candidates that wish to run have to return their papers by February 2, so time isn’t exactly running out just yet, but you can expect those races to quickly take shape in just a couple weeks.

We’re publishing stories frequently on the new website, so you’ll be able to check there during the week moving forward. If something big breaks, we’ll try to cover it there as soon as possible. And this newsletter will continue to summarize all the news we can cover each Friday. Hopefully without too many “evening editions” like this one!

And with that… we’re on to next week.

Onward!