Under existing Sterling Zoning By-Laws governing “Site Plan Review” is this sub-section:
Regulations. The Planning Board may adopt and from time to time amend reasonable regulations for the administration of these site plan guidelines.
THAT SUB-SECTION PROVIDES THAT THE PLANNING BOARD MAY, ON ITS OWN, ADOPT REASONABLE, INTERNAL, HOUSEKEEPING REGULATIONS FOR HANDLING SITE PLAN PAPERWORK, AND FOR IMPLEMENTING SITE PLAN REVIEW PROCEDURES, CONSISTENT WITH EXISTING ZONING BY-LAWS, WITHOUT THE NEED TO AMEND EXISTING STERLING ZONING BY-LAWS AT ANY TOWN MEETING.
USING THAT SUB-SECTION AS A SMOKESCREEN, THE BRAZENLY DISHONEST, MALICIOUS, DECEPTIVE, AND DANGEROUS STERLING PLANNING BOARD, A COLLECTION OF ASSHOLES CHAIRED BY SELF-DEALING DEVELOPER WEASEL CARL CORRINNE, ACTING IN CONCERT WITH ITS USELESSS, MAKE-WORK, TALKING SOCK PUPPET, STEPHEN WALLACE, THE TOWN PLANNER, HAS SHAMELESSLY WARPED AND REVERSED THE MEANING OF THAT SUB-SECTION BY DRAFTING AND PLACING ARTICLE 40 ON THE 2025 STERLING ANNUAL TOWN MEETING WARRANT AS A BLATANT POWER GRAB THAT, SIMULTANEOUSLY, WOULD REVOKE SITE PLAN REVIEW REQUIREMENTS AND CONDITIONS SET FORTH IN CURRENT PROTECTIVE (ZONING) BY-LAW PROVISIONS APPROVED BY STERLING VOTERS AT PREVIOUS TOWN MEETINGS, AND TRANSFER THEIR WATERED-DOWN REPLACEMENT GUIDELINES TO ENTIRELY INTERNAL PLANNING BOARD CONTROL WHERE, AS INTERNAL PLANNING BOARD SO-CALLED ‘REGULATIONS,’ THEY CAN BE GUTTED OR IGNORED LATER. HENCE, FOR EXAMPLE, THE ELIMINATION OF THE WORD “CONDITIONS” AND ITS REPLACEMENT BY THE WORD “STANDARDS.”
“Conditions” are required pre-conditions or prerequisites. “Standards” are mere guidelines that can be ignored. That dilution by our corrupt Planning Board is transparently intentional.
The corrupt Planning Board’s REAL AIM is set forth at the end of its own deceptive, deliberately misleading Article 40 “Summary”—
Summary: The Zoning Bylaw’s current Site Plan provision authorizes the Planning Board to adopt Site Plan Regulations, which the Board has not done to this point. Revising the Site Plan section of the Zoning Bylaw will enable the Planning Board to include design guidelines in its new set of Site Plan Regulations. Further, much of the content of the existing bylaw can be moved into the [Planning Board internal] regulations (emphasis added).
Here is the 2025 Sterling Annual Town Meeting Warrant—
Scroll down to read Article 40 in its ENTIRETY. Article 40, as set forth, is very long, technical, and misleading. Obviously the OUTRIGHT ASSHOLES constituting the Sterling Planning hope you won’t study it, BUT YOU NEED TO STUDY IT CAREFULLY TO GET ITS FULL, MALICIOUS, DANGEROUS IMPORT. The ‘strikethrough’ provisions are ALL current PROTECTIONS approved by Sterling voters at PREVIOUS Annual Town Meetings. The corrupt Planning Board wants to eliminate them so it can ram through pro-development guidelines and development proposals.
THE MOST DISHONEST, MALICIOUS, AND DANGEROUS PROPOSED NEW Sub-Section is THIS:
§ 301-6.4.4. Relationship to Building Permits and Special Permits
….
2. The Planning Board shall act as the Special Permit Granting Authority (SPGA) for all projects requiring site plan approval as determined by the Building Commissioner acting in his capacity as Zoning Enforcement Officer.
…
THAT’S RIGHT FOLKS—THE CORRUPT STERLING PLANNING BOARD, PLAYING FOOTSIE WITH A BENT BUILDING COMMISSIONER, UNDER THAT LANGUAGE, CAN STEAL ALL SPECIAL PERMIT GRANTING AUTHORITY FROM THE STERLING ZONING BOARD OF APPEALS, THEREBY ENABLING THE PLANNING BOARD TO RAM THROUGH DEVELOPMENT PROJECTS, IN THE PROCESS DEGRADING THE TOWN OF STERLING’S SEMI-RURAL CHARACTER.
Under Sterling’s current Protective (Zoning) By-Laws the Sterling Zoning Board of Appeals is the primary Special Permit Granting Authority.
Combined, the malicious, pernicious, misleading, deceptive, dishonest, dangerous provisions set forth in Article 40 are too extensive to brief here, BUT YOU GET THE PICTURE.
AT THE 5 MAY 2025 ANNUAL TOWN MEETING VOTE DOWN WARRANT ARTICLE 40 IN ORDER TO RESTRICT THE CORRUPT PLANNING BOARD’S AUTHORITY AND THEREBY PRESERVE STERLING’S SEMI-RURAL CHARACTER!
J.G.
STERLING, MASSACHUSETTS, OVERWATCH 