Dracut Boards & Commissions

What Boards & Commissions Are

Beyond the Board of Selectmen and the School Committee, much of Dracut’s governing happens on volunteer boards and commissions. They approve new development, hear zoning appeals, protect wetlands and ponds, guide services for older residents, and support the arts. These are also the rooms where an ordinary resident can have the most direct hand in a decision.

Under the Town Charter, the Town Manager appoints many of them, including the Planning Board, the Board of Health, the Conservation Commission and the Zoning Board of Appeals, and the Board of Selectmen appoints others, including the Historical Commission. Members serve fixed terms. The meetings are public, and seats open up regularly.

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 Commission. 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.