PARIS — Multiple public hearings are expected before a zoning ordinance is presented to voters next June.

Selectmen on Monday voted to accept a draft of the ordinance revised by the town’s attorney and John Maloney, a senior planner with the Androscoggin Valley Council of Governments.

The draft will probably not be the version submitted to voters. Selectmen intend to hold multiple public hearings to get input and might make substantial changes to the document. 

The ordinance divides the town into five districts with varying degrees of restriction on types of building and development allowed.

The Route 26 Corridor and General Growth Districts are less restrictive, while the Rural, Historic Paris Hill and South Paris Main Street districts limit some types of development. 

The draft accepted by the board was revised to comply with state statutes and other town ordinances, Maloney told selectmen Monday.

However, there are only slight changes from the document presented to the selectmen by the Paris Land Use Advisory Committee in April.

The largest adjustment to the document removed five pages of regulations on sexually oriented businesses. Most towns had separate ordinances to regulate those types of businesses, Maloney said.

He and town attorney Geoffrey Hole agreed that the land use ordinance should limit its authority only to which district sex businesses could be located, not regulations on the type of business allowed.

The possibility of setting up a commission to review new building and restoration in the Paris Hill Historic District will be left up to the Board of Selectmen. 

The Land Use Advisory Committee wrangled with whether to set up a board or commission to help preserve historic Paris Hill, but eventually dropped language from the ordinance presented to selectmen, Maloney explained. 

“They passed the buck to you,” he said, noting that historic commissions were fairly common in Maine. 

Adopting the ordinance will require variations to some of the town’s existing regulations, especially the subdivision ordinance. For continuity, amendments to the ordinances should be included on the same ballot as the zoning measure, Board of Selectmen Chairman Bob Kirchherr said. 

Selectman Robert Wessels said parts of the ordinance concerned him and he wanted to gather public input before putting the measure to voters. 

A public hearing is tentatively scheduled for Jan. 6.