Milton Town Council amends zoning code process

Milton Town Council has the final say on zoning code amendments, and it can now reject planning and zoning commission recommendations with a simple majority vote.

Previously, a four-fifths super majority vote was required to overturn commission recommendations regarding amendments to the zoning code.

Residents largely opposed the change during a public hearing Oct. 6, but council unanimously approved an ordinance reducing the required vote to a simple majority.

“It would be kind of ludicrous to have two people overturn planning and zoning,” Milford resident Barbara Wagner said during the public hearing. “I wouldn't want to act on the basis of two people.”

Resident Jeff Dailey said the ordinance rewrite was “ill-conceived.”

“No one on council has stood up and looked people in the eye and given convincing reasons as to why this needs to be changed,” Dailey said. “It is fine the way it is. This is where outrage from the citizens could step in.”

Councilman Emory West was not present for the vote, and the council seats formerly held by John Booros and John Collier have not yet been filled.

With two vacant council seats, Milton Town Council is now composed of five members, so three council members now constitute a quorum, meaning that it would take only two votes to accept or deny a zoning code change.

“While I'm not real in favor of having two people be able to override, in theory, two people could have passed the budget,” Councilman Michael Coté said. He also said the current five-member council is a temporary situation.

Council members were under the impression Oct. 6 that, with this ordinance amended, there will be no ordinances in town code requiring a four-fifths super majority vote.

However, according to Milton's town code, a four-fifths super majority vote also is required to overturn Planning and Zoning recommendations regarding conditional use applications. This portion of the town code was not discussed at the Oct. 6 meeting.