The board held its third meeting on the application at the town offices on July 12 where there were again far more attendees than chairs. Applicants and those with party status were asked to avoid repeating previous information and avoid duplication of the pages and pages of testimony that was submitted to the board.
True North Wilderness is seeking permission to develop a wilderness therapy school for up to 42 teens and young adults plus up to 14 counselors on a parcel of land known as the Lathrop parcel. It straddles two zoning districts, the soil and water conservation district and the rural residential district. The Lathrop parcel is subject to a permanent public recreational easement and it abuts the Phen Basin block of the Camel’s Hump State Forest and the Big Basin lands.
Rebecca Boucher, attorney for True North, opened the hearing by explaining to the board that the conflicting testimony about how and whether True North fits into the town’s zoning ordinance did not consider three options for the project to be permitted. First, she said, True North could be permitted as an outdoor recreation facility (which is allowed in both districts). Second, she said, it could be permitted as two uses in two districts. And the third method, she said, would be to consider the school with an accessory outdoor recreation use that is subordinate to the primary use (school).
By state law, she said, that third route would limit the extent to which the town could regulate its development because the town would be breaking a state law if, in its permitting process, it prevented the school from realizing its intended use – which in this case is wilderness therapy.
Ky Koitzsch, chair of the Fayston Natural Resources Committee, addressed the group and said that the committee had reviewed the application and the report of wildlife biologist Jeff Parsons. Koitzsch said the committee concurred with the request by the adjoining Big Basin Trust that an independent review of the impact of True North students camping throughout the parcel 365 days a year needed to be undertaken.
Liz Levey, who has interested party status as an adjoiner, asked that the DRB seek the advice of the town’s legal counsel before accepting all of True North’s testimony at face value. The meeting ended with town Zoning Administrator Carol Chamberlain asking to present her staff report on her interpretation of how the zoning ordinance speaks to the project.
Boucher objected, stating that she had concerns about Chamberlain’s objectivity. After discussion by the board and Boucher, Chamberlain was allowed to offer her comments, but as a citizen rather than the town zoning administrator. Chamberlain concurred with others who feel that the town’s zoning does not allow the intensive impact of 365 days a year of 42 campers plus 14 counselors in the soil and water conservation district.
The DRB has 45 days to issue its decision.
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