PARIS – In a series of mostly close votes, the ad hoc committee to review the town’s subdivision ordinance voted Tuesday to recommend three changes and reverse an earlier decision.

The 10-member committee, which includes the Planning Board and five residents appointed by selectmen, voted to reconsider allowing the Planning Board to grant waivers in 10 sections. The committee voted 5-4 on March 4 to allow the board to grant waivers, providing it complied with federal and state laws.

“The way this was done makes me very uncomfortable,” said Robert Kirchherr, who introduced the motion to reconsider the waiver issue and abstained from the previous vote. “I don’t like how this was done as a blanket statement.”

The committee, which was short one member, voted 5-4 to bring the issue back to the table. It also unanimously approved tabling action on the 10 sections until the members can further review them.

A motion to keep the ordinance’s definition of a minor subdivision was defeated 5-4. The definition stated that such a subdivision contains nine or fewer lots and no streets or extension of water and/or sewer services.

Ron Fitts, a Planning Board alternate who submitted eight concerns about the ordinance for review, said the definition restricts the construction of a road in a small subdivision.

“If you make any kind of street, it’s going to be a major subdivision,” Fitts said.

Fitts said subdivisions with 15 or more lots require a review by the state Department of Environmental Protection. Committee member Sid Record motioned to redefine a major subdivision as having no more than 13 lots and removing the road condition. The motion passed 5-4.

In another 5-4 vote, the committee voted to remove two paragraphs about the frequency of street frontage for several town roads. The vote also allowed subdivisions with more than 15 lots to have at least two connections to existing streets; the previous language stated that the connections had to be to existing public streets.

The committee also debated whether the code enforcement officer should be allowed to both interpret and enforce the ordinance.

“Interpreting, you’re leaving it all down to one person,” Chairman Bob Ripley said.

The committee voted 8-1 to change the definition to have the code enforcement officer act as an adviser to the Planning Board and enforce the ordinance.

The committee was formed to review the town’s subdivision ordinance, which passed last June at town meeting by a vote of 487-468.

The committee will make recommendations to the Planning Board, which will in turn be presented to selectmen.