The Yarmouth Planning Board expressed deep reservations Wednesday regarding the state’s new "Seasonal Community Designation," a program that offers significant local tax relief but may strip the town of its ability to prohibit trailers and RVs as year-round residences. Under the Affordable Homes Act, Yarmouth is eligible for the designation, which would allow the town to increase its residential property tax exemption from 35% to as high as 50%. It would also enable the creation of a Year-Round Housing Trust Fund to support "attainable" housing for residents earning up to 250% of the Area Median Income (AMI).

However, the financial benefits are tied to new state mandates regarding "movable tiny houses." Town Planner Kathy Williams alerted the board that final state regulations were changed to prevent towns from banning these units outright. The key thing that they didn't put in their summary was that they actually changed it to just say provisions that may 'allow or further regulate' movable tiny houses, Williams said. When they say further regulate, they don't mean prohibit. They typically mean you can put some guard rails on there, but I don't think you can specifically prohibit. Chair Joanne Crowley noted that Williams provided extensive documentation on how these regulations might conflict with existing zoning for non-conforming merged lots.

Member Susan Brita voiced strong opposition to the loss of local control, asking, Can we ban them outright if we don't want them? She argued that the mandate could be detrimental to the community, stating, this doesn't seem wise... that we would give up a right to reject something that could negatively affect the value of everyone's lot. Building Commissioner Mark Grills clarified a critical technical distinction between permanent tiny homes and those on wheels. On these movable trailer, auto, whatever they're calling them, those are trailers and they're not regulated by the building code, Grills explained. I can't issue a building permit for it for no reason. It's a trailer. The tiny homes are required to meet the standard... but not a movable.

The timing of the state’s April deadline also drew fire from the board. Member Ken Smith expressed disbelief at the schedule, noting that many part-time residents would be excluded from the conversation. I'm shocked that they want to do this in April. It's really astonishing. A third of our residents are not even here to know about it or understand it, Smith said. Member Tom Pendleton echoed the sentiment, calling the movable home requirement a deal-breaker. The number one thing is, to me, it's a deal breaker if it's movable homes, Pendleton said. It just totally changes what we're trying to do here.

In other business, the board reviewed data from an ongoing Short-Term Rental (STR) study. Member Deirdre Gaquin presented figures showing that approximately 29% to 33% of Yarmouth’s housing stock is seasonal, with the highest concentration located on the Sound side of town. The board discussed the need to regulate corporate and commercial investment in residential neighborhoods to prevent homes from acting as unregulated hotels. The current STR bylaw is set to expire in November, and the board signaled a desire to modify it to address corporate ownership while protecting the rights of individual homeowners. Members Will Rubenstein and Peter Slovak participated in the discussions as the board weighed how to prevent the STR market from driving housing costs further out of reach for year-rounders.

The board also received an update on the redevelopment of the former Mattacheese Middle School, known as the Madaki’s project. Williams reported that a building analysis confirmed the existing structure is beyond salvage. The building analysis shows it's not worth saving. It wasn't worth saving 17 years ago and it's just been deteriorating ever since, Williams told the board. A public presentation on the project and the associated Mass Development grant is scheduled for next week.

Regarding regional infrastructure, Chair Crowley reported that the Zoning Board of Appeals approved the Blue Sky cellular monopole with significant modifications. The height of the tower was reduced from 120 feet to 96 feet and moved further back from Route 28. The ZBA laid out some conditions about landscaping, which was one of our concerns, Crowley noted. During the meeting, the board handled routine administrative tasks. Motion Made by [Unidentified Member] to approve the meeting minutes of September 3, 2025. Motion Passed (7-0). Additionally, the board moved to accept more recent records. Motion Made by [Unidentified Member] to approve the minutes of February 4, 2026. Motion Passed (7-0).