PARIS — Residents could finally get a crack at voting on zoning laws, after selectmen agreed Monday to revisit placing the controversial topic on the election ballot. 

The zoning laws, which have been endorsed and criticized in equal measure at selectmen meetings over the past few years, would create five districts within the town, each with different rules on the types of businesses and construction possible.

However, the town’s zoning ordinance rules are driven by the Comprehensive Plan, requiring selectmen to first amend the plan before making the changes to the zoning ordinance.

In May, selectmen initiated the yearlong process of amending the town’s guiding document to allow for resident-backed changes to a proposed Land Use Ordinance.

The move was made to address complaints from some residents that the mandated two-acre minimum lot sizes in rural parts of town was an aesthetic and business deterrent. 

The decision created a five-member committee to revise the comprehensive plan, delaying a town vote — clamored for by some residents — on the law as it stood.

However, four months have lapsed with just a single resident volunteering. 

That lack of progress generated one resident to request the board to look again at the issue.

“It seems to me in a population of 5,000 people if we can’t get five people onto a committee, we should see it sent to the voters. Let’s bring it to a vote,” resident Bruce Sargent said. 

“If there are so many people that want to change it to one acre, why don’t we have an overabundance of people for that meeting,” Sargent said. 

Chairman of the Board of Selectmen Ryan Lorrain, who endorsed placing the issue on their next agenda, said, “Everyone gets their opinion heard regardless of how people hear about it.”

The minimum lot sizes have proven controversial as some landowners feel imposing restrictions on development will hurt businesses; other residents see the requirement as essential to maintaining the town’s rural, rustic nature, and say the requirements are not intrusive.

Three years ago, a Land Use Ordinance Committee was formed to draft a proposal. After completing its work in early 2013, selectmen passed a draft of the ordinance in April.

In February, Paris held a 2½-hour public hearing moderated by selectmen and former members of the Land Use Committee at which residents voiced a mixed response to the proposed rules.

“I’m willing to take a chance to let the town decide,” Sargent said.