Codification of General & Zoning Bylaws- Explanation, Benefits & Investment

Local government and staff, as well as our constituents, need easy access to our municipal Bylaws to search and use across a range of applications.  General Code is here to help us with their state-specific knowledge. They have 60 years of codification expertise and unique code-centric solutions making it possible to digitally link ordinances/bylaws, zoning codes, building codes, and other essential content with our own procedures and public service platform.

The Town of Lakeville’s General By-Laws and Zoning Bylaws have never been professionally codified and are presently being updated and maintained by the Town Clerk in a word document. While this approach has served the Town well to this point, it is time to professionally codify our Bylaws as well undertake a complete review of the Bylaws to ensure that they do not contain inconsistencies, errors, and outdated information that could potentially affect enforceability and alignment with relevant state statues.

The Codification of the Bylaws (the Code) will be consistent, well organized and easily and fully searchable online version, housed on and an online platform called eCode360.

General Code has extensive experience in Massachusetts and currently serves over 3,000 municipalities across the United States and Canada, including 135 in Massachusetts (Example around the area: Town of Middleborough, Town of Dartmouth, City of Fall River, City of Taunton, Town of Easton, Town of Marion, and Town of Plymouth).

The scope of the project: New Legislation- New Town Code

• The 1994 Revision of the General Bylaws, with amendments through November 14, 2022.
• The 1994 Revision of the Zoning Bylaw, as amended through November 14, 2022.
• Spelling, grammar, and typographical errors are corrected.
• Numbers one through nine are consistently cited in text format; numbers 10 and above, fractions and decimals are cited in numeric format. 
• The capitalization of terms is made consistent; proper nouns and the word "Town," when referring to the Town of Lakeville, are capitalized.
• Additions are underlined, and deletions are strikethrough. 
• The word "by-law" is revised to "bylaw." 
• The word “Ordinance” is revised to “Bylaw”- Town adopts Bylaws and not Ordinances. 
• References to the Massachusetts General Laws are standardized to the following format: MGL c. __, § ___.

• Door-to-Door Sales, adopted May 14, 1984, as amended 11-8-2021 STM by Art. 9. (Replaced with Peddling and Soliciting)
• Original Chapter III, Town Officers, Section 7, Fire Engineers, as superseded by the June 27, 1991, Town Meeting acceptance of MGL c. 48, § 42A. (Per Fire Chief, no longer needed due to “Strong Chief”- acceptance of MGL c48, §42,43, & 44 @ ATM 6/15/2009- Article 24)

• Constituent- Citizens will be able to find and use laws in a comprehensive, up-to-date and understandable format.
• Staff- All staff members will be able to gather the information they need to answer questions from both citizens and other municipal officials.
• Planners/Developers- The new Code will provide a clear view of existing regulations and make it easier to determine the impact of proposed changes and amendments on development and growth initiatives.
• Attorneys- Legal staff can draft and amend legislation more efficiently by using eCode360 to research similar laws that other communities have passed.

At the Annual Town Meeting held on June 3, 2019 – Article 5 (Capital Improvements); it was voted to appropriate the sum of $10,000 to pay the cost of Codification for the Town Clerk- carried by 2/3rds requirement, passed unanimously.

The cost of the Codification: $7,845

Project launched on: January 7, 2020

Projected of Final Draft & Delivery of Code: September 2022 (Delayed due to COVID-19)

Please note: The Codification of the Bylaws will be voted at the Annual Town Meeting of May 8, 2023 and submitted to the Attorney General for approval.  

To view the Final & Red-Line Drafts of the General & Zoning Bylaws- see attachments below: