The Southwick Planning Board is sending a recommended bylaw to the Selectmen for review regarding new installations of common driveways. This common driveway, right, at The Ranch serves three properties. (Photo by Frederick Gore)
SOUTHWICK – The Southwick Planning Board agreed to send a proposed common driveway bylaw to the Board of Selectmen this week.
A subcommittee, led by Planning Board Vice Chairperson Roz Terry, met numerous times over the spring and summer to create a driveway bylaw.
“We had a lot of heated discussions and came to the conclusion that we needed two – a general bylaw and a common driveway bylaw,” said Terry.
The subcommittee, which included two members of the board, representatives of the police and fire departments, a conservation commission member, and community members, debated how far the bylaw should go, literally.
Some people said there should be a certain width driveway all the way to the house for safety apparatus to fit in case of emergency. Others said whether or not a resident wanted a certain width – or any driveway – was not a decision the town should make. In the end, the recommendation was to require the common driveway be wide enough for safety vehicles, but anything over 200 feet was the homeowner’s discretion.
Terry said the committee studied bylaws in several towns and based much of Southwick’s bylaw on the town of Southampton.
“We used a lot of Southampton’s and simplified it,” Terry said.
The bylaw also limits the number of homes sharing a common driveway to two.
The board voted to send the bylaw to selectmen, who would then send it to town counsel. Department of Public Works Director Randy Brown, who served on the driveway committee, took the lead on the general bylaw and said he would make sure it was sent to selectmen.
Board Chairman Douglas Moglin said a public hearing would be set once the board received the bylaw proposal back from legal counsel. Terry said she hopes to have the bylaw ready for a vote at the annual special fall meeting.
