Deerfield Planning Board Advances ADU Bylaw Rewrite Toward August Public Hearing

DEERFIELD -- June 17, 2026, Deerfield Planning Board advances ADU bylaw overhaul toward an August public hearing and October Town Meeting. Meeting jointly with the Zoning Board of Appeals on June 17, the Planning Board reviewed a near-final draft rewrite of Chapter 179's accessory dwelling unit section, prepared largely verbatim from the state's model ADU bylaw by departing Town Planner Alex. The draft allows ADUs up to 900 square feet by right in single-family residential zones and up to 1,200 square feet by special permit, limits each lot to one ADU, and bars short-term rentals of fewer than 30 days in any unit with an ADU. Town Administrator Amy confirmed a public hearing is targeted for early August, with the counsel-reviewed draft to come back before the board at its July 13 meeting. A separate proposal to reduce minimum lot sizes and frontage requirements by 25 percent was set aside pending a conversation with the town's assessors, who would need to analyze the property-valuation impact before the change could go to voters. The ZBA disclosed it is now critically short of members after two resignations, leaving it below the quorum needed to approve special permits.