After a public hearing on revisions to its Town Plan, the Waitsfield Select Board closed the public hearing and in the coming weeks will take a look at a prioritizing tasks, specifically with regard to master planning and wastewater in Irasville, and housing.
At the May 8, 2023, meeting the board could have adopted the Town Plan and then gone back and amended it to address updates in Chapter 13 which deals with implementation of the Town Plan, or the board could have closed the hearing to work on Chapter 13 updates, which they did. The board will need to reopen the hearing in the future for a public hearing on the changes to Chapter 13 and to adopt the plan.
At this week’s hearing, Robin Morris, who is chair of the town’s water commission and who was speaking as a resident rather than town official, pointed out that the Town Plan under consideration reflected Waitsfield’s population remaining stable and he said that the town’s recent work on housing, if successful, should lead to a more rapid rate of population growth.
“If we are initiating workforce housing we should be seeing an uptick in growth,” he said.
He suggested that the board take a look at the Hinesburg Town Plan which lists priorities and strategies to achieve them on a single page.
‘IMPLEMENT PRIORITIES’
“I’d like to task the planning commission and select board to implement a set of priorities and a goal for the number of workforce housing units the town can achieve in the next 10 years. If you measure it, you’ll do it,” he said.
Phil Huffman, a member of the town conservation commission, thanked the planning commissioners for reaching out to collaborate with the conservation commission on Act 171, a state statute that asks towns to think about forest blocks as part of planning.
“It was great collaborative process and I thank the planning commission for their openness. Through that process, it was a deep dive,” Huffman said.
Select board member Brian Shupe asked about a provision in the proposed Town Plan that dealt with future land use and asked what the planning commission defines as moderate density residential development outside of current village boundaries.
Planning commission vice-chair Kevin Anderson explained that if the town were going to extend village boundaries, they would be extended beyond existing boundaries rather than creating disconnected areas of denser development.
“We didn’t take that decision lightly. With that said, the plan makes it clear that it is aspirational. The overall sentiment of the planning commission is that if we’re going to grow, we want to concentrate it in the villages and adjacent to them,” he said.
Board member Chach Curtis echoed Morris’ suggestion of having a clear statement of priorities at the front of the plan.
Board chair Christine Sullivan and town administrator Annie Decker-Dell’Isola noted that a lot of the work that will be part of those priorities is Chapter 13 which deals with implementing those strategies.
