Is Ban a Bylaw?

The office of Attorney General Martha Coakley is mulling the Town Meeting article that banned the sale of plastic water bottles in Concord as of Jan 1, 2011.

Jill Butterworth of the Coakley office said Friday that the first step is to review whether or not the article constitutes a bylaw.

"We are in that process now," said Butterworth.

If the office determines that the article, brought to the Town Meeting floor by petitioner Jean Hill, is a true bylaw in its language, then it will let the town know and move to the next step which is to determine if it is constitutional and enforceable.

The selectmen submitted the article to the A.G. for its opinion before deciding how to proceed.

The article passed at Town Meeting had no enforcement language in it for selling the bottles, or fines associated with the sales.

Bottlers and businesspeople have all but guaranteed that if the A.G. determines that the article is a legal bylaw and the ban goes into effect, they will sue the town. The town is not eager at the prospect of having to defend against a law it considers tenuous.

Businesspeople fear that customers will go out of town to buy bottled water for their children playing on teams in Concord, and take their dollars out of the local stores.

If, on the other hand, Coakley's office rules that the article is not a bylaw and does not conform to the language of a true town bylaw, it will tell the selectmen, and essentially put the ball back in the town's court.

The selectmen said it could ignore the article for lack of enforcement procedures, or put an article on a warrant for a future Town Meeting to rescind the original article.

Butterworth said the determination could come next week.