u/UncleWainey

I thought it was a post in this subreddit for a moment until I read the text.

In a town meeting marked by overflowing attendance, relentless audio difficulties, a multi-hour community center discussion, and the former town moderator heckling the new moderator like Liam Gallagher on MTV Unplugged, Dennis residents voted 166-82 to accept its Seasonal Community Designation! The town can now:

• Acquire year-round housing occupancy restrictions
• Develop housing with a preference for municipal workers, so that public safety personnel, teachers, DPW, and town hall workers have a place to live
• Establish a Year-Round Housing Trust Fund to create and preserve affordable and attainable housing for year-round residents
• Create year-round housing for artists
• Develop a comprehensive housing needs assessment
• Permit tiny homes to be built and used as year-round housing
• Permit year-round, attainable residential development on undersized lots
• Increase the property tax exemption for homes that are the owners’ primary residence

The earlier community center vote (Article 13) failed 277-454, but by the time the Seasonal Community vote (Article 34) came up, nearly 2/3rds of the attendees had left. Shout out to my fellow residents who stuck around until 11:20 PM tonight!

Yarmouth just lost a state grant to help build a new library that has been under consideration for 40 years. The vote was overwhelmingly in favor of building the library, 314-177, but 328 votes were needed in order for it to pass with a 2/3 majority.

These town meeting votes have a huge impact on our local community. Yarmouth has an estimated 25,208 residents, but only 491 people participated in that vote, a turnout of less than 2%.

I'll be at the Dennis town meeting next Tuesday night and I hope those of you from Dennis will come too!