Residents also approved work on a land use ordinance and subdivision regulations.
BYRON – Change is coming to this small, northern Oxford town, and residents want to be ready for it.
At Monday’s annual town meeting, residents overwhelmingly approved a moratorium on subdivision applications. They also approved spending up $4,000 to pay a newly resurrected and appointed Planning Board to work on a land use ordinance and subdivision regulations that would give the town more say in how their town develops.
“More and more people are looking at Byron. I’ve had calls from developers, asking about subdivisions,” said Selectman Steve Duguay. “Byron is changing all the time.”
The moratorium provides for a six-month suspension on the issuance of subdivision permits, with a chance to extend the moratorium for another six months if progress is being made to develop proper regulations.
“This will give us a one-year grace period to get our act together if someone wants to subdivide land,” said Duguay.
Roseanna White, town clerk and member of the newly formed Planning Board, said the town has no regulations and relies only on the broader state regulations to govern any land divisions.
“With our own subdivision ordinance, we’d have so much more control,” she added.
Duguay said in his 20 years on the Board of Selectmen, he has seen four subdivisions – a good one on Garland Pond and three others he considered very poorly done.
He said evidence of the town’s growth can be seen in the number of building permits that have been issued. He said that number has doubled or tripled from five years ago.
“We need some laws on the books,” he said.
Planning Board meetings are tentatively scheduled for 6:30 p.m. on the first and third Thursdays of each month at the town office. Duguay said comments and suggestions are welcomed from the public.
Townspeople also elected Selectman Bruce Simmons to his first, full, three-year term on the board. Simmons served the remaining one year of former Selectman Roger Boucher’s term. White was re-elected to a one-year term as town clerk and Melissa Plourde was re-elected to additional one-year terms as treasurer and tax collector.
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