RANDAL BROWN
SOUTHWICK – The Board of Selectmen met with members of the Driveway Subcommittee last night to discuss how far a driveway bylaw should go.
Planning Board Vice Chairperson Roz Terry is a member of the subcommittee and said the group, which formed originally to regulate common driveways, has met four times and has hammered out nearly all aspects of a bylaw, with the exception of one major sticking point.
“How far do you want government to go?” Terry asked the board.
Terry said town general laws barely touch upon the role of the Department of Public Works Director Randy Brown when it comes to driveways – any driveway, not just a common one – and Brown wants more specific guidelines.
The problem is that Brown has to give the okay to a property owner looking to create a driveway and he has little guidance from the law.
“I look for site safety issues, drainage issues, and the cut, and that’s all,” said Brown.
Terry said a three-sentence paragraph in the general laws is all Brown has to go on when deciding whether or not a driveway is allowed.
The subcommittee has been divided on the issue and Terry said it became a “political” question.
When asked what resolution Brown hoped would come from the board, he said he wanted specifics.
“I want a bylaw that tells me – and a developer – what to do,” he said. “Right now [the laws] are very open to interpretation.”
The subcommittee has done its research and found that laws about driveways in other communities vary greatly. One of the concerns of the committee members is how far should the bylaw go. Terry said they could regulate width, etc., just at the curb, or they could require that emergency access was necessary right to a home’s door.
“If a person has 50 acres and wants to put their house two miles in, is that okay?” she said. “How much onus goes on the homeowner if we don’t save them [because of lack of access]?”
Selectwoman Tracy Cesan said it’s a fine line to draw between letting homeowners decide what they want and giving everyone access to emergency services.
Selectman Joseph Deedy suggested the town be able to access 20 feet onto a property.
Terry said this issue is what is stalling the subcommittee.
“It’s been a huge political issue and that’s not for us to decide in a subcommittee,” she said.
Brown said he would like the opportunity to talk with the town’s legal counsel about what course to take and the board unanimously approved his request.
“When you have a plan, let’s get together and have a work session,” suggested Chairman Russell Fox.
