BETHEL – Holding up their blue placards to be counted, residents voted Wednesday night for the higher of two Police Department budgets.

They decided to spend $214,640, the amount recommended by selectmen, to operate the department in the coming year. The Budget Committee had recommended $198,756.

In a stand-up-and-be-counted vote, residents voted to amend the site plan review ordinance, 45-42.

Planning Board Chairman Al Cressy explained that the amendment attempts to remove inconsistencies in appeals, variance and waiver-related provisions of the town code.

While most of the changes drew little comment, Board of Appeals members Lennie Shaw and Harry Faulkner argued against one segment.

That section sought to clarify the roles of the Planning Board and Board of Appeals by having the appellate body act only in appellate capacity, rather than conducting a new investigation into an application.

Shaw said the amendment was precipitated by an Appeals Board ruling that reversed a Planning Board decision on a sign issue.

He wanted people to regard the Appeals Board as an entity that could provide elasticity in the community when ordinances become too rigid or compliance too time-consuming.

Shaw urged voters to reject the amendment “in the interest of keeping humanity in the community.”

Faulkner said the amendment would strip the Appeals Board of its authority and render it useless. Others disagreed.

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