Hamilton Select Board Opens Warrant but Tables 3A Zoning Decision to June

HAMILTON -- May 19, 2025, Hamilton Select Board opens June 26 warrant but punts final 3A zoning decision to June 2. The four-member board, Chair Bill Olsen, Rosemary Kennedy, Tom Meyers, and Ben Galuzzo, voted unanimously Monday to open the warrant for a June 26 special town meeting while deferring any commitment to include MBTA Communities Act zoning articles after Planning Board Chair Marnie Buda reported her board voted 7-0 to recommend postponement, citing an incomplete form-based code draft from consultant UTL and no final document expected before June 6. Town Manager Joe Doyle disclosed that a memo from state Representative Casner's office identified several hundred thousand dollars in grants directly affecting Hamilton and more than $1 million in regional grants at risk if the town falls out of compliance, and confirmed that a $500,000 DOER town hall reimbursement grant could be withheld if Hamilton is out of compliance when it seeks payment. Meyers argued the board was taking "a big risk" by not putting the question to voters before the town's self-imposed July 14 deadline, while Buda warned that a premature vote would yield "a predictable no vote" and potentially doom the form-based downtown code for years.