Town Moderator Claire Smith is asking that residents attend an upcoming Planning Board hearing to hear about a number of complex articles on tap for Town Meeting this month.

Smith said that considering the complexity of the articles, it would be cumbersome to try to tackle them in a Pre-Town Meeting forum, which she has hosted before past Town Meetings so residents could hear about the items on the agenda before showing up at Town Meeting to take a vote.

"I think it's much better to encourage the public to attend the Planning Board meeting," she told Selectmen on Tuesday. The meeting is scheduled for Monday, October 21, at 7 p.m. in the Town Hall cafeteria.

One of the proposals submitted by the Planning Board is a "transfer of development rights" bylaw that has been in the works for years.

The goal of the proposed bylaw is to protect areas of town that are more environmentally sensitive and encourage development in areas in which it may benefit.

For example, a landowner in the Maple Springs area could sell his right to develop to a developer hoping to establish a commercial development on Cranberry Highway in East Wareham. On the other hand, development rights could be sold to conservation group, and that land could be left undeveloped.

Any proposed development project would still have to go through the town’s standard permitting process.

Also on the warrant is a proposed bylaw that would zone medical marijuana treatment centers in the Town of Wareham's "institutional zone," which is near Tobey Hospital.

The Planning Board will also ask voters to approve a new bylaw governing signs.

Town Meeting will convene Monday, October 28, at 7 p.m. in the Wareham High School auditorium.

Click the link below for more information about the Planning Board proposals!