Pittsfield Committee Begins Review of City CodeBy Brittany Polito, iBerkshires Staff
04:35AM / Tuesday, December 20, 2022 | |
PITTSFIELD, Mass. — The Ordinance Review Committee last week began its refining of the city’s 26-chapter City Code.
The panel mapped out a slate of changes to Chapters 1 and 2, which deal with general provisions and administration.
The changes addressed gender-neutral language, outdated items that no longer apply to the city, and occurrences of redundancy. A number of items were also tabled to collect more information.
"It makes a little more sense now what our goal is, and of what we're looking for," City Clerk Michele Benjamin said after reviewing former City Clerk Jody Phillips' notes on the chapters.
She also commented that it will take a little trial and error on the committee's part while reviewing the extensive document.
Some items in the charter showed a snapshot of a former Pittsfield.
The committee agreed to delete Chapter 1, section 7 that deals with fines for violating the city code. It imposed a fine of no less than $2 nor more than $300 and was last updated in 1976.
The city now has specific fines for violations of the code.
Chapter 3, sections 36-38 dealing with the city physician were also removed, as the city has not had one for over a decade and contracts out for those services.
Additionally, Chapter 2, section 156, which deals with the Civic Center Commission, also did not make the cut for the revised code, as the panel has not been active for more than 40 years.
City Solicitor Stephen Pagnotta advised the committee to leave the Police Advisory Review Board ordinance alone because there had been some controversy over it.
"There was some controversy over what this ordinance allowed them to review," he explained. "And there was a disagreement between the police chief and some members that caused a problem but I think that much of what we're doing are technical changes, cleaning up edits, as opposed to this would be a substantive change."
In September, five members of PARB quit after being barred from reviewing the report on the fatal police shooting of Miguel Estrella because its ordinance only allowed them to review citizen complaints.
The Ordinance Review Committee was re-established earlier this year and had its first meeting in the fall.
Last month, it voted to move forward with an editorial legal analysis from General Code that will be complemented by its own review. Department heads will also be consulted in this process.
It was also reported that funding is available for the project, which was given a price tag of about $7,300.
The panel decided to not move forward with reviewing the city's zoning as it is already being looked at by the Department of Community Development.
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