Deerfield Planning Board Approves Final ADU Bylaw Draft, Sets August Public Hearing

Planning Board · Meeting of July 13, 2026

Deerfield Planning Board votes 7-0 to finalize accessory dwelling unit zoning bylaw draft. The board, meeting July 13 in hybrid format, accepted the revised bylaw — governing ADUs under state regulations — as its final draft following a detailed line-by-line review with town counsel Lisa Mead, who joined remotely. Mead directed four changes: relocating a parking reduction waiver from the general parking section into the ADU section, deleting a redundant non-conformity sentence from the definitions, removing a provision on accessible unit deviations as unnecessary under the building code, and striking a one-unit rental restriction she said the state Attorney General's office "will get stricken." The board scheduled a public hearing for August 3 and is targeting a special town meeting no sooner than October 13, after an October 6 Franklin Tech regional school vote.

The board also voted 6-0 to extend the site plan review approval for the Friends of Franklin County Regional Dog Shelter at 0 Greenfield Road through August 21, 2027.

In the full story:

• Who Was There
• Organizations And Documents Referenced
• The complete report — 2,326 words

Source: the Planning Board meeting of July 13, 2026, reported from the official video recording and transcript.