Mike Bender, Candidate for Planning Commission, recently shared his thoughts on Facebook

There has been some confusion – and even nasty misrepresentation – about my (or Democrats) position on citizen development. The idea is to reduce regulatory barriers to allow for reasonable, incremental development among current homeowners,like with an accessory dwelling unit or a small addition. The cost of going through the ZBA process (lawyers, engineers, architects, surveyors)—on top of just affording the project—is prohibitively expensive for many residents; plus, current zoning regulations regarding the size and use of buildings impede these citizen development solutions even though it is completely in line with the historical development pattern in town. If we don’t act as a town to address some of the barriers to building more housing in town, the state will likely to do it for us. In conclusion, we can ease the burden on homeowners and businesses without throwing caution (and safety) to the wind.