LEYDEN — In just under two and a half hours, 30 Leyden voters approved all nine articles at Wednesday’s Special Town Meeting, including bylaw amendments changing regulations on accessory dwelling units (ADUs).

Additionally, voters approved creating a special permit process for property owners wishing to rent out their space as a short-term rental or event and retreat center, following a nearly 45-minute discussion on whether the town should regulate how owners use their properties.

“The details of the conditions feel very controlling and kind of undefinable. ... Like, how do we define loud music? How do we define excessive traffic?” resident Ginger Robinson said. “I’m trying to avoid giving the Planning Board control to decide these kinds of really intense details of control, because I trust this Planning Board to apply those things fairly, [but] I don’t trust the next ones to do it.”

Robinson, who serves on the Finance Committee, said Leyden only has one or two properties on Zillow that are used as rental venues for events like weddings or retreats, and given the town’s history of hosting nonprofit retreat centers, she wondered why the town would want to limit private property owners from using their space.

She added that she doesn’t believe the Planning Board should have the authority to impose special permit conditions such as limiting noise, traffic and lighting. Other residents agreed and added that special permit hearings open property owners up to being “bullied” by their neighbors over what can be defined as excessive noise.

“The public hearing process really does open you up to bullying from your neighbors,” resident Elizabeth Tubergen commented. “I think some of these conditions give people a lot to complain about and there’s quite a large gradient of gray area.”

Planning Board member Emily Yazwinski told residents that the conditions were designed to encourage property owners to be considerate of their neighbors while renting out their space.

“One thing that the Planning Board was talking about was wanting to have some conditions that made everybody good neighbors,” Yazwinski said. “It’s a way of encouraging people to continue to be good neighbors and think about the town as a whole.”

Voters considered several proposed amendments to the article, including removing all but the first special permit condition, which states properties must comply with Board of Health regulations and get any necessary state and local licenses; adding the language “such as” to the list of permit conditions to indicate they could be waived at the Planning Board’s discretion; and other rewordings.

Of 13 proposed conditions, voters felt three were necessary and the others could be waived by the Planning Board. The three conditions that either addressed concerns from residents or from the Attorney General’s Office were that existing venues be grandfathered in; that short-term rentals or event venues must comply with health regulations and state law; and requiring special permit applicants to supply emergency contact information for their property to the town administration, the Police and Fire departments, and other town boards. The 10 other conditions, as printed on the Town Meeting warrant, will be options the Planning Board may require for a special permit or can choose to waive.

Leyden residents also approved an ADU bylaw that aligns with the language of the Affordable Homes Act, which permits property owners to construct one ADU of up to 900 square feet on their property by right. Additionally, they approved revisions that make Leyden’s regulations more flexible than state law. Articles 3, 4 and 5 removed basement space from the gross floor area calculation; increased the allowed maximum floor area of an ADU from 900 to 1,200 square feet; and allowed an additional ADU to be built with a special permit.

Discussions on the ADUs were comparatively brief, with residents seeking clarification on the language of the articles, such as why the special permit regulations for an ADU that can be built in addition to the one that is allowed by right state it “may be located in an existing structure.”

“We’re saying that if you want to do an internal redesign in your home from a one-family to a two, or if you have a garage, an attic or existing outbuilding, you could put the additional ADU in the existing building,” Planning Board member Elizabeth Kidder explained. “We’re trying to keep out a lot of new construction going in and we’re trying to keep them clustered together.”

Residents quickly passed the last two warrant articles — adding commercial or industrial-scale battery energy storage facilities to the list of zoning uses that require a special permit, and defining common driveways — with no discussion. The meeting was dissolved at 8:21 p.m.

“That process was very painful,” Moderator Jack Golden said, “but it was us actually coming together, which is, in fact, a beautiful thing.”

Reach Madison Schofield at 413-930-4579 or mschofield@recorder.com.