On February 14, 2023, the Warren Select Board held its first public hearing regarding the planning commission’s draft new land use and development regulations (LUDRs). Citizens shared concerns about reduced lot sizes in the village, options for affordable housing and other development regulations.
The citizen group, Warren Residents for Responsible Cell Tower Siting and Development, provided the board requested changes to the communications facilities, which it developed with the assistance of Barre attorney Brooke Dingledine and Morristown/Morrisville zoning administrator Todd Thomas, who formerly owned property in Warren. The two spoke at the group’s February 13 Zoom meeting to discuss the proposed changes. Thomas encouraged adding definitive, clear requirements of where cell towers can be built and being as specific as possible in the LUDRs.
John Egan of the Warren Residents for Responsible Cell Tower Siting and Development also handed the board a petition with 112 signatures requesting their proposed changes to the LUDRs to more clearly lay out regulations for communications facilities. These changes came in response to Verizon submitting notice in late October that it intended to file for a certificate of public good to construct a 140-foot cell tower on Airport Road in Warren, which many residents have raised concerns with, including the proposed project’s effects on aesthetics, wildlife, adjacent property values, and health and safety, among others.
PETITION
The petition read: “As a result of a recent Advance Notice filing by Verizon proposing the development of a new cell tower in Warren, it became apparent that the draft LUDRs do not include important protections provided in the current LUDRs relating to the location, height, or conditional use status of cell towers. In addition, many other Vermont towns have amended their zoning ordinances to provide enhanced protections regarding cell tower projects.
“The Warren Residents for Responsible Cell Tower Siting and Development, an organization committed to educating Mad River Valley residents about appropriate development of cell towers, has recommended revisions to the planning commission’s proposed amended LUDRs to address these concerns, restoring the omitted provisions and suggesting additional protections including more rigorous requirements regarding co-location, height limitations, and setbacks.”
The suggested changes to the LUDRs include requiring propagation maps showing existing and proposed coverage as well as a site plan showing the existing and proposed footprint of the facility. It also requires that a new tower must not be located on a hilltop or ridge or in the viewshed of the “Mad River Byway,” the Route 100 corridor through the town of Warren or in viewshed of the high elevations of Roxbury Mountain Road “if it results in an undue adverse aesthetic impact.” The proposed changes prohibit a tower of over 100 feet from being built in Warren. It also prohibits towers from exceeding 20 feet above the tree line (the tower Verizon had proposed was 70 feet above the tree line). There are additional specifications on the appearance of cell towers and fencing around them in the proposed changes.
This week’s hearing is continued until the select board’s next meeting on February 28.
