The regulations were approved by the town select board on July 23,
with one dissenting vote. In August the town received a petition from
residents asking that the matter be brought forward for a public vote.
The question which will appear before voters next week is as follows:
ARTICLE 1: Will the Town vote to adopt the Amendments to the Town of
Waitsfield Subdivision Regulations, as approved by the select board on
July 23, 2007, the complete text of which are on file in the Town
Clerk's Office, available at the Joslin Memorial Library, and on-line
at www.waitsfieldvt.us? The purpose of said Amendments, affecting all
properties in the Town of Waitsfield, is to better reflect the desired
land use patterns specific to each zoning district, to implement the
provisions in the Waitsfield Town Plan, and to result in a more
readable document.
A yes vote on Tuesday is a vote in favor of the proposed regulations and a no way is a vote against the regulations.
The board's support of the new regulations follows three years of
planning work on the part of the planning commission, updating
subdivision regulations adopted in 1988. After planners and hired
consultants revamped the regulations, they also heard from a group of
local land use attorneys who raised issues with several aspects of the
new regulations. The planners incorporated some changes suggested by
the local attorneys and did not adopt others. They had town attorneys
vet the document for legality before sending it on to the select board.
At the select board level, as at the planning commission level, public
hearings were held to present the changes to the public and take
feedback. They were not well attended at either the planning commission
or the select board. The new regulations are more specific to the
town's various districts and zones and better reflect land use patterns
and historic uses, according to the authors. The old regulations
offered up a single pattern of regulation for the entire town without
regard to use, topography, and natural or scenic resources.
Select board member Paul Hartshorn, the one dissenting voice against
adopting the regulations last July, told the board that he is concerned
with one specific clause within the regulations which calls for
planners, and specifically the development review board, to consider
development access roads as they relate to existing public and private
roads in terms of proximity, connectivity and topography.
Hartshorn said in July that that provision was tantamount to blackmail,
allowing the town to make a land grab, requiring developers to provide
land for a future right of way or easement so that subdivision roads
could be connected.
That section of the new regulations reads as follows: (emphasis added)
(7) Roads shall, to the extent feasible, be designed and laid out to:
(a) avoid adverse impacts to natural, historic, cultural and scenic resources;
(b) be consistent with existing road patterns in village and other settlement areas;
(c) maximize connectivity within the subdivision and to adjoining parcels and road networks;
(d) follow existing linear features, such as utility corridors, tree lines, hedgerows and fence lines;
(e) avoid fragmentation of farmland and other natural and cultural features identified in Section 3.3.
The planners who wrote the new zoning have countered that the former
zoning contains the same clause and that both are based on portions of
the Town Plan. The current regulations, which will remain in effect if
the new regs are voted down next week reads: (emphasis added)
Section 2. Roads
2. Layout
All roadways and intersections shall be designed to insure the safe and
efficient movement of vehicles. Roads shall be logically related to the
topography so as to produce usable lots and reasonable grades. Wherever
extensions of proposed roads could rationally provide public access to
adjacent properties or connection to existing public, state or town
highways, a right of way across the subdivider's property may be
required.
Voting takes place Tuesday, October 23, at the Waitsfield Elementary
School from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. Absentee ballots are available from the
Waitsfield Town Clerk's office at 9 Bridge Street.
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