Scituate boards vet dozen bylaw changes before April Town Meeting

SCITUATE -- March 3, 2026, Scituate's Select Board, Advisory Committee, and Bylaw Review Commission reviewed a dozen proposed bylaw changes at a joint session Tuesday ahead of the April 13 Annual Town Meeting. Select Board Vice Chair Susan Harrison and member Freya Schlegel presented a rewrite of the Waterways bylaw (Article 26) that creates a new "for hire captain" category for harbor users who earn 51 percent or more of their gross annual income from harbor-based activity, distinguishing them from commercial fishermen after a January Select Board meeting drew nearly 200 residents. Town Planner Karen Joseph walked boards through nine zoning articles and a contested stormwater amendment (Article 24) tied to federal MS-4 permit compliance, defending a proposed requirement that property owners disturbing 80 percent of the 15,000-square-foot permit threshold submit a professional staking plan, a step estimated to cost roughly $2,500. Colleen Burgess of Oceanside Drive warned the new harbor categories could generate pushback from more than 500 people on the recreational mooring wait list, a concern Harrison said would be managed through separate publicly noticed rules-and-regulations proceedings. The Bylaw Review Commission indicated it may meet as soon as March 9 to remove a contested 30-day town meeting posting provision rather than resolve it on the town meeting floor.