Town Government
Danvers Boards & Commissions
What Boards & Commissions Are
Beyond the Select Board and the School Committee, much of Danvers’s governing happens on volunteer boards and commissions. They approve new development, hear zoning appeals, protect wetlands and ponds, guard historic places, and guide services for residents. They are the rooms where an ordinary resident can have the most direct hand in a decision.
The meetings are public, and seats open up regularly.
Key Boards & Commissions
- Planning Board reviews subdivisions, site plans, and major development.
- Zoning Board of Appeals hears variances and special permits.
- Conservation Commission protects Danvers’s wetlands, ponds, and open space.
- Board of Health oversees inspections, permits, and public health rules.
- Council on Aging Board of Directors guides services for older residents at the Danvers Senior Center.
- Human Rights and Inclusion Committee works with the town’s Equity and Inclusion Department on fairness and belonging in town.
For the full roster, current members, vacancies, and schedules, see danversma.gov.
How to Serve
- Find an opening on the town’s boards and committees page.
- Return a Talent Pool volunteer form to the Town Manager’s office. The Town Manager appoints many of the town’s boards, and the Select Board appoints the Board of Appeals, the election officers and the registrars of voters.
- Interview if asked, and await appointment.
- Serve: attend the public meetings and help make decisions for your town.
What this seat decides
Your other boards
Board of Health. Tobacco and nicotine sales, flavored products, food permits, and housing conditions. It can pass a binding regulation on its own, without a Town Meeting vote.
Planning Board. Where housing or businesses can be built, height limits, and a specific development. It holds the public hearing, and the zoning change itself is voted by Town Meeting: two thirds for most changes, a simple majority for the housing changes the law lists.
Conservation Commission. A stream, a wetland, a marsh, or a pond.
Library Trustees. Library hours, programs, and policy. The money it spends is voted by Town Meeting.
Recreation Committee. A field, a court, a playground, or a park. The money to build one is voted by Town Meeting.
Historical Commission. An old building, and how it can be protected and preserved.
Serving on a board is one of the most direct ways to shape Danvers.
MassCivics last checked this page on October 16, 2026.
Sources
- Town records: Town of Danvers, Boards & Commissions, as of October 2026.
- Town records: Town of Danvers, Council on Aging Board of Directors, as of October 2026.
- Town records: Town of Danvers, Equity & Inclusion, as of October 2026.
- Town records: Town of Danvers, Town Manager’s Office, as of October 2026.