The recent confabulation between the Amherst Town Council and John Varner as to whether he is qualified for the town Zoning Board of Appeals is another unfortunate example in Amherst of two sides talking past each other on totally irrelevant points.

The ZBA is not a policy-making body. It is one of three important bodies (with town council and planning board) whose powers, duties, and responsibilities are set out in state statutes.

The ZBA is not the place for policy arguments about housing, not the place to debate merits of one policy versus another. Those discussions happen other places — committees and boards reviewing what’s possible, costs, benefits, and the direction of the town. In particular, the Community Resources Committee now advises Town Council “on matters concerning the long-term economic vitality and quality of life in Amherst,” including housing, land use and community and economic development.

The powers of a ZBA, however, are limited, set out in the general laws of our commonwealth. A town’s ZBA has limited authority:

■To hear and decide appeals from permit-granting boards.

■To hear and decide applications for special permits (when so empowered).

■To hear and decide petitions for variances.

■To hear and decide appeals from decisions of the zoning enforcement officer.

(Specific conditions and requirements apply for approval of a variance — substantial hardship if not granted — and for special permits.)

The only question Town Council needs to address for any ZBA applicant is whether the person is prepared to meet the requirements for performance of the job — whether they are qualified, understand the limitations of their duties, whether they can perform their duties within the limits of the empowerment granted by the legislature.

Among many issues, for example, ZBA has no role in establishing a requirement for affordable housing in town. If affordable housing is required in the zoning bylaw in a particular situation at issue before the board, there is no policy discussion as to whether it’s appropriate. The ZBA is not the place for deliberation as to any particular aspect of zoning policy in the town. If ZBA establishes policy at all, it’s in an ex post facto manner, by their rulings on the various petitions before it.

But if ZBA exceeds their authority, they, and we, through the town, will suffer the consequences. As one council member noted, ZBA is a quasi-judicial body. But when a ZBA reaches beyond its empowerment, the real judicial process can kick in, causing all kinds of problems for the town.

Our Supreme Judicial Court has often noted a ZBA cannot exceed its authority and has defined the limitations of a ZBA. For example: In a 2017 case the court rejected the Newton ZBA’s attempt to eliminate open space when approving an affordable housing site — the city had to honor its open space set-aside. A ZBA has authority to grant permits or approvals, the court said, but that does not include authority to order the city to give up protected open space.

Granted, a problem would occur if an applicant tried to steer the “hearing and deciding” process according to personal biases. But here, Town Council’s emphasis on policy positions of the applicant seems to have become their primary focus. And the applicant’s willingness to respond to the misdirected focus of the council has resulted in the two sides flying by each other in some celestial netherworld, neither focused on the sole question the council needs to address: whether the applicant will conform with requirements to function within the limits of empowerment granted to the ZBA by the legislature. The basic question has become lost in the sauce.

Our Town Council has created a needless firestorm. It has directed the focus of an issue to a place where it’s not appropriate, where it has no application. There are plenty of committees and boards giving the people of Amherst opportunity to deliberate the merits of various policies. Suggesting ZBA is a forum for that purpose is misdirected and an inefficient use of Town Council resources.

Let’s get Town Council back to functioning as our local legislative body, efficiently making decisions that affect the town, but not interfering in areas where their authority is limited.

R.T. Roznoy is a semi-retired attorney in Amherst.