Special Town Meeting voters questioned the effect three zoning bylaw changes would have on the town and voted to indefinitely postpone them on Monday

The three bylaw changes were endorsed by the Planning Board, according to a letter read by Town Administrator Mike Gagne, but were written by Brad Saunders of D + E Management LLC. Saunders, a land planning consultant, represents a few Bay Club landowners and a new development within the complex.

Robert Price questioned why no one on the Planning Board stepped up to comment on the bylaws.

“Does the Planning Board support and recommend this article?” he asked.

Selectman Paul Silva asked if a member of the Planning Board was present, but none was at the meeting.

Saunders did give a brief explanation of the three bylaws, but Bill Cantor wanted more information.

Regarding one of the bylaws, he said, “I don’t think we have the proper amount of information to be voting on this. I would have expected to see a slide presentation of the town and see all the possible areas of town this could pertain to.”

The proposed bylaw changes involved  the rules regulating cluster subdivisions – a housing development in which houses are built closer together with designated open space to compensate for the clustering of buildings

The first bylaw on the agenda would allow for the creation of duplexes in such a cluster subdivision. The second would let an area designated as a light industrial district be used as open space in a subdivision.

The final bylaw proposal change would permit cluster subdivisions to be built in a general business district.

As the bylaw already allows other residential housing to be built in a general business district, Saunders said, “Several Planning Board members indicated they thought this may have simply been an oversight.”

Bonne DeSousa questioned how the bylaws would apply to the town as a whole, in particular the bylaw allowing for cluster subdivisions in a general business district.

“I’m just not sure what kind of an impact the change in zoning will have to the business district going forward,” she said.

Residents also debated if Special Town Meeting, which drew less than 100 people, was the place to discuss bylaw changes. DeSousa and others felt the Annual Town Meeting, which has a larger turnout, would be a better venue. Highway Surveyor and former Planning Board member Barry Denham disagreed.

“Zoning can become complicated and complex, and it’s a lot better done at a Special Town Meeting than at Annual Town Meeting,” he said.

Ultimately, the voters had more questions than they got answers.

When it came time to vote on the bylaw amendments, DeSousa made motions to indefinitely postpone the items. The majority of voters sided with DeSousa and all three bylaws were indefinitely postponed.

The other 15 items on the Special Town Meeting agenda were passed with little or no discussion.

Some voters were curious about a $1.2 million appropriation for a sewer project on Industrial Drive. The item allows the town to borrow or transfer the funds.

The project hinges on an $835,000 grant from the state, without which it won’t go further. Industrial Drive property owners will pay for those betterments not covered by the grant.

Of the existing septic systems, Water and Sewer Superintendent Nick Nicholson said he didn’t want to point fingers but, “I suspect if they’re investigated as far as passing Title 5 they would have problems.”

Title 5 is the state’s environmental code governing septic systems.

Nicholson said owners on Industrial Drive want the sewer and that a positive vote would help make a case for approval of the grant. Voters passed the item without further questions.

Voters also gave Selectmen and assessors the right to negotiate for payment in lieu of taxes (PILOT) agreements with commercial solar projects. PILOT agreements allow the town to assess a project’s fluctuating value as equipment and panels depreciate and are replaced.