The Mattapoisett Planning Board is reviewing its bylaws and looking for public input.

“There are a couple of issues with the bylaws and things that need tweaking in town,” said Chair Thomas Tucker.

With help from Sandy Conaty, comprehensive planning manager with SRPEDD, the board is working to streamline the bylaws.

Reviewing bylaws currently requires flipping back and forth through a lot of pages, which Conaty said “reduces user friendliness.”

Reading through the bylaws, Conaty suggested several that need to be looked adjusted.

Conaty suggested that the board take a look at the laws for family-related apartments (commonly called in-law apartments.)

“It’s actually a very negative bylaw the way it is written,” she said. “The constant compliance that would need to be done makes me, as a reader, question whether or not Mattapoisett actually wants this type of living conditions allowed.”

She also said the board might want to consider reducing the dimensions of parking spaces.

Additionally, the town needs to look into its signage regulations to make sure they are “content neutral.”

"If you have to read the sign in order to determine if the sign complies with your bylaw, then you could be in trouble should it get challenged in court,” explained Conaty.

The board also opened up the discussion to residents, who expressed interest in reviewing the town’s zoning bylaws and business bylaws.

Regarding the village business development bylaws, resident Wayne Walega said there were issues with parking in the rear of businesses that should be addressed.

“There are certain mechanics that don’t work very well. There needs to be some flexibility,” said resident Wayne Walega.

The board will create a schedule of bylaws to review at upcoming meetings. Signs and parking will be discussed at the Oct. 7 meeting.

All changes to bylaws must be approved at Town Meeting. Board member Ronald Merlo said there was no hurry to get all of the bylaws updated before the annual Town Meeting.

He also encouraged the public to contact the planning board with comments or topics they would like to discuss in the process.