Ordinance and Administration Committee

RECEIVED By City Clerk at 1:59 pm, 5/25/22 AMESBURY CITY HALL 62 Friend Street Amesbury, MA 01913 City Council Ordinance Committee Meeting Minutes February 15, 2022 Virtual meeting This meeting was conducted under the ‘Executive Order Suspending Certain Provisions of the Open Meeting Law G.L. c.30A, §20’, signed on March 12, 2020. Ordinance Committee Chair Mandeville called the meeting to order at 7:06 PM Present were: Attorney Johnson, Councilor Lennon, Attorney Raffa, Councilor Rinaldi, Councilor Mandeville (5) Minutes for approval: November 16, 2021 and January 18, 2022 Councilor Lennon motioned to approve the November 16, 2021, meeting minutes as presented. Attorney Johnson seconded the motion. Roll call was taken, 4 members voted in favor, one abstention (Mandeville). Motion Passed. Councilor Lennon motioned to approve the January 18, 2022, meeting minutes as presented. Attorney Raffa seconded the motion. Roll call was taken, all members voted in favor (5). Motion passed. 2022-023 An Ordinance to amend the City Zoning Bylaw by inserting the previously enacted Short-Term Rental Unit Bylaw into Section XI, Special Conditions, as Subsection U; to update the Zoning Code to change the term Town to City; and rename the Zoning Bylaw as the Zoning Ordinance. – Mayor Sponsor  Attorney Raffa asked, are the Zoning Ordinances referred to as Zoning Ordinances except for, in respect to, Short Term Rental Bylaw. o Councilor Mandeville responded by saying, he thinks the answer is yes.  He said, in item 2022-023 there were a number of inconsistencies in the appropriate language referring to how the city and its ordinances are referred to in this piece of legislation. This was a review by KP Law to ensure that the language was consistent. o Attorney Raffa said, she agrees with Councilor Mandeville’s statement. She said she believes there are inconsistencies within the order itself. She said, for example, the first sentence of the summary should be City Zoning Ordinance not City Zoning Bylaws. 1  o Councilor Lennon stated, in its current state it is a Bylaw and the ordinance act that we are currently here to evaluate and enact would be to change the title of the bylaw to ordinance. It’s actual state and title right is now bylaw, but it should be ordinance.  Director of the Office of Community and Economic Development, Angela Cleveland, stated, this was written by KP Law. Mark Reich cleaned [the order] up, making sure those references were specifically the way that they are because it is the bylaw the way it is right now, and we are changing it to an ordinance. o Attorney Raffa clarified that once the ordinance is accepted every reference to bylaw would be referred to as ordinance.  The committee confirmed, yes.  Councilor Lennon stated, 2021-105 is the previously enacted Short-Term Rental Unit ordinance, it is referred to as ordinance in all of its documentation. That is misrepresented here as a bylaw. o Councilor Rinaldi stated that he sees order 2021-105 listed as a bylaw. He gave reference to the pdf named “Final Version” under 2021-105 on the website. He read, “Be it Ordained…. The Amesbury City Council does hereby accept the following zoning bylaw for all residential properties applying for a Short-Term Rental Unit License in the City of Amesbury.” o Councilor Wheeler stated it’s just the difference between the title of the bill and the enacting language, they differ. One says bylaw and one says ordinance. o Councilor Lennon stated, it [order 2021-105] was certified as a bylaw and passed as an ordinance. o Attorney Raffa noted, even though it has inconsistencies, once this bill [2022- 023] is passed, it will all get cleaned up in the end.  Councilor Wheeler suggested it would be helpful to have a redline of the zoning bylaw with these changes prior to City Council voting on the bill. o Angela replied by saying, Mark Reich said they did not have to do that. She voiced her concerns with limited capacity for making these changes in a short amount of time for viewing before the bill gets passed. o Councilor Mandeville asked if there is time pressure on passing this bill.  Angela replied by saying, yes. They would like to enact the Short-Term Rental Unit Ordinance as soon as they can and get it cleaned up for people to view before the season starts. o Angela stated there will be a red-lined version for the planning board meeting on February 28, 2022.  Councilor Mandeville stated, we are redlining the city ordinances an asked if there is adjusted language for 2022-023 to take a vote on. o Councilor Lennon stated she does not think they are modifying the language of 2022-023. She said she believes it has been decided it is all correct.  Attorney Raffa stated, wouldn’t the term, update the zoning code, be update the zoning bylaw.  Council Lennon stated correct, where it says amend the zoning bylaw. Councilor Lennon motioned to send order 2022-023 back to City Council with a positive recommendation pending the language modification of “Zoning Code” to “Zoning Bylaw” in the order brief and summary. Councilor Rinaldi seconded this motion. Roll call was taken, all members voted in favor (5). Motion passed. 2  Councilor Lennon motioned to adjourn. Councilor Rinaldi seconded this motion. Roll call was taken, all members voted in favor (5). Motion passed. Adjourn at 7:33pm Respectfully Submitted by, Ellie Andersen, March 1, 2022 3