FOLKS, above is the header I used for the following 2 March 2026 email I sent to the Town Administrator, copies to the Select Board twits and the Building Commissioner. UNFORTUNATELY this WordPress format did not allow me to transfer the red text referred to so below I inserted [Existing Text] instead.
Mr. Caldwell,
The Planning Board, Chaired by walking conflict of interest, self-dealing, self-serving developer weasel Carl Corrinne, has proposed the gutting of Sterling’s present Zoning By-Law definition of “Structure” and the substitution of a new vague, ambiguous, amorphous definition of “Structure” that would permit developers like him to erect a variety of real stuctures encroaching on abutters’ lot lines, AND THAT IS THE CLEAR INTENT OF THIS BULLSHIT PROPOSAL THAT SPEAKERS OPPOSED DURING THE 8 DECEMBER 2025 ZONING FORUM.
The proposed new vague, ambiguous, amorphous BULLSHIT definition is in black text below. The much superior and more definitive original definition is in red text below.
STRUCTURE:
A combination of materials assembled at a fixed location to give support or shelter, such as a building, retaining wall which retains four or more feet of unbalanced fill, fences over seven feet high, swimming pools that contain water over 24 inches in depth and 250 square feet of surface area or the like. The word “structure” shall be construed, where the context requires, as though followed by the words “parts thereof”. A vessel shall not be considered to be a structure.
[Existing Text] A combination of materials to form a construction, including among others, buildings, stadiums, tents, reviewing stands, platforms, stagings, observation towers, water tanks, play towers, swimming pools, trestles, sheds, shelters, fences over six feet high, display signs, flagpoles, masts for radio antennas, courts for tennis or similar games, backstops, backboards; the term “structure” shall be construed as if followed by the words “or portion thereof.”
UNLESS the Planning Board WITHDRAWS its proposed new definition of “Structure” and retains the existing definition of “Structure” I shall offer as an amendment at the 2026 Annual Town Meeting the following even more representative definition of “Structure:”
STRUCTURE:
A combination of parts, components, or rigid members constituting a solid entity at a fixed location, such as a dwelling, storage shed, woodshed, radio antenna mast, fence over six feet high, berm, retaining wall, billboard, tennis or basketball court, tennis or soccer ball backstop, stadium, spectator stands, observation tower, observation platform, or swimming pool with rigid sides or a rigid deck, but shall not include temporary construction stagings or platforms; tents, awnings, or canopies erected for temporary events such as weddings, wedding receptions or parties; flagpoles; weather instrument stanchions and assemblies; or vessels.
Sincerely,
Jim Gettens
STERLING, MASSACHUSETTS, OVERWATCH 