The Town of Lakeville Planning Board on Feb. 27 voted to forward placeholders to the Select Board for the spring Town Meeting warrant for three items: revisions to the accessory dwelling unit (ADU) bylaw (including removal of a separate accessory apartment section), updates to the site‑plan review bylaw and a new stormwater regulation. The board also adopted a revised site‑plan review application checklist intended to streamline plan submissions.

Town Planner Nancy Darphy told the board the ADU change would remove the town’s existing accessory apartment section and incorporate ADU language already approved at the previous fall town meeting; she proposed adding wording that would make the ADU bylaw "subject to 760 CMR 71" to accommodate forthcoming state changes. Darphy said town counsel (the town attorney) would be asked to review the draft language before it goes to the Select Board.

"We would wanna pick something to town meeting that basically says we're gonna remove section ... accessory apartment in its entirety," Darphy said, summarizing the proposed change. Board members agreed it made sense to send the draft language to town counsel for legal review and to the Select Board as a placeholder for the spring warrant.

On site‑plan rules, Darphy described planned changes to the bylaw text and an expanded checklist for applicants. The board agreed the checklist should be published on the town website so applicants know upfront what materials must be submitted; the board voted to adopt the site‑plan application checklist that was included in the meeting packet.

On stormwater, Planning staff said they had a draft prepared by Environmental Partners that had been reviewed by the board’s consultant (SerpEd/peer reviewer) and by DPW; the board agreed to continue work with the conservation agent and town departments so one town authority takes responsibility for stormwater oversight and for illicit discharge follow‑up. The board asked staff to circulate a revised draft to the reviewers and to return with a finalized draft.

The board voted to request placeholders for ADU, site‑plan review and stormwater for the spring Town Meeting and to adopt the site‑plan application/checklist. The motions passed by roll call vote.

Other business
Darphy and board members discussed several non‑warrant items including: using ArcGIS parcel layers to produce an updated zoning map for future rezoning conversations; potential creation of a multi‑department technical review meeting to let applicants get early feedback from conservation, fire, police, Board of Health and DPW; and administrative follow‑ups on outstanding ANR and as‑built review site visits.