Town of Ayer Adopts New Regulations
AYER - Town Manager Robert A Pontbriand announced today that the Board of Health has adopted new tobacco regulations that will go into effect on July 1, 2018. Additionally, the Planning Board has adopted updated rules and regulations regarding all Planning Board activities, last updated in 2001.
Tobacco Regulations
Following a public hearing held on April 30, 2018, the Ayer Board of Health (BOH) voted to adopt a new tobacco regulation at its May 7, 2018 meeting. The regulation will go into effect July 1, 2018 and will increase the legal age to purchase tobacco products from 18 to 21, and will restrict the sale of various flavored tobacco products to adult-only stores such as retail tobacco stores and adult-only smoking bars.
“The tobacco companies are trying to hook our children. They are marketing new flavored tobacco products aimed to appeal to children to make them into smokers for life,” said Board of Health Chairman Patricia Peters following the adoption of the new regulation. “This is just wrong.”
"The Ayer Board of Health regulation update attacks the "cheap, sweet, easy to get" marketing efforts the tobacco industry uses to attack youth as replacement customers,” said Joan Hamlett, Ayer BOH Tobacco Control Agent. “So I am pleased that the Ayer BOH has joined the growing number of Massachusetts health boards in passing regulations that help reduce youth access to tobacco and electronic vape products. Raising the age to 21, raising minimum cigar prices, and restricting blunt wraps and candy/fruit flavored tobacco products is a giant step in deterring youth into starting a life-long nicotine addiction habit.”
Ayer’s new tobacco regulation requires:
- Tobacco merchants to post smoking cessation information;
- A minimum price of $5 for packages of two or more cigars;
- A renewal prohibition on businesses who have outstanding fines, or who have had three documented sales to under-aged customers;
- No sales within 500 feet of a school;
- Flavored products and blunt wraps to be sold in adult tobacco stores only;
The new regulation also caps the number of Ayer tobacco permits to no more than 20 and bans stores from using roll-your-own machines. For more information, please contact the Ayer Board of Health at 978-772-8213 or boh@ayer.ma.us.
Planning Board Rules and Regulations
On May 8, 2018, the Ayer Planning Board adopted new administrative Rules and Regulations. These Rules and Regulations cover all aspects of the Planning Board’s activities and responsibilities, and spell out the duties of the Planning Board, its organizational structure, and requirements for meetings, quorums and voting, application procedures for ANR, subdivision and site plan applications, management of agendas, the conduct of site visits, and the responsibilities of staff. They also update the Planning Board’s fee schedule. These fees now more accurately reflect the cost of staff administration, review and management during the plan review process.
The Planning Board’s administrative Rules and Regulations were last updated in 2001. The Planning Board will next turn its attention to updating its outdated Site Plan and Subdivision Regulations, which will help to ensure the best possible development outcomes when multi-family, commercial and industrial development are proposed in Ayer, as well as new residential subdivisions. Stay tuned to the Town of Ayer website for more details and public hearing notices for these development review regulations. For more information, please contact Town Planner Mark Archambault at 978-722-8218 or marchambault@ayer.ma.us