Scituate Planning Board closes hearings on two Annual Town Meeting bylaw changes

SCITUATE -- February 12, 2026, Scituate Planning Board votes to send two contested bylaw changes to Annual Town Meeting. The board voted 5-0 at its February 12 meeting to close public hearings on amendments to Zoning Bylaw Section 620.4(D), governing deck and patio setbacks, and to the Stormwater General Bylaw, Section 32050, both now headed to the 2026 Annual Town Meeting warrant. The setback change, developed by Town Planner Karen Joseph with Building Commissioner Bob Vogel and Chair Patricia Lambert, adds a provision allowing egress stairs to extend no more than four feet into a setback and grandfathers any building permit issued before April 15, 2026. Vogel told the board he could issue the pending permit for 50 Oceanside Drive "literally tomorrow." The stormwater revision was scaled back after public objections, with the board reverting Section 4.A.2 applicability thresholds to the language in regulations approved October 27, 2025, abandoning a new 500-square-foot impervious-area trigger that resident Greg Morse called "smaller than a two-car garage."