I don't know what to say about Tuesday's Selectboard meeting. It was almost too congenial to be believed. And in the end an amazing thing happened. The lion lay down with the lamb, as it were, and board chair Steve Steidle voted in favor of the big box ordinance.
Yes folks, in a stunning victory for advocates of greater scrutiny of proposed big box stores in Brattleboro, the Selectboard voted 5 - 0 to approve an ordinance that would provide just that. How we got there is a longer story. As town manager Jerry Remillard quipped early on, there seemed to be more than just air coming out of the cooling system.
But we begin with the International Council for Climate Control, which has recognized the town of Brattleboro for its membership and presumably, achievements in the areas of sustainable energy and emissions control. Both Paul Cameron, director of the local chapter of Cities for Climate Protection, and Jerry Remillard seemed pleased with their cooperative venture and the progress the town has made toward a more sustainable future.
The town approved a low bid of $8.00 per cubic yard of sand for winter road treatment. They will receive 3,250 yards of sand, less than the town's previous average, but in line with usage in recent years. The total cost of the purchase will be $26,000, which comes within the budget for this year. If we have a rough winter, we might have to buy more.
Larry Bloch was on hand to explain the charter change which he is spearheading with the help of other community members. For zoning matters only (town plan, zoning bylaws, and subdivision regulations), the citizens would like to amend the town charter to require 10% of voters rather than 20% to bring a matter to a town-wide vote. Arguments in favor including the great difficulty of getting 20%, the fact that voter rolls are inflated at any given time with deceased and departed voters, and that this amendment would give citizens an added opportunity for direct democracy.
Opponents worried that reducing the vote to 10% would make it too easy to do. As Dick DeGray said, "You don't want to give too much power to the people — or at least not to too few people." It was then pointed out that nothing could be approved without a town-wide vote, ensuring that the town at large would have final say in the end. The charter change will have another hearing at the October 17 Selectboard meeting, and will be on the November ballot for townwide vote.
Bob Johnson presented changes to the Delta Campus PUD, with a little help from colleagues. He wants to 'withdraw' 25 acres from conservation land to develop five houses. He also wants to change one lot's status from strictly residential to mixed commercial and residential. No board action was required on this item and it continues through the approval process.
Next up was the Local Option Rooms & Meals Tax, which spurred some debate. Dick DeGray made a speech about how this was de facto tax relief for residents of Brattleboro, because for once the town was going to raise money by taxing someone other than them. Audrey Garfield however felt it was unfair to enact a tax that affected just one segment of the population, owners of hotels and restaurants. She also felt the return might not be worth it. Steidle was fundamentally in agreement. Others said that an additional 1% tax was not going to stop them from going to restaurants. But Greg Worden and Kevin Yager both voted with DeGray, and the motion was approved, at which the room erupted briefly over the anomaly of Steidle and Garfield voting together on something other than an uncontested unanimous vote.
After that, curbside meters were easy. First, Bob Woodworth of the Parking Committee showed us the old meters. These meters are 40 years old, he said. They can't be upgraded without a big outlay of cash ($36,000), and they need to be totally refurbished. On the other hand, though, there are these new meters, all digital, with every parking bell and whistle you could ever want. Jerry Remillard turned out the be the perfect spokesmodel, pointing out the cool new features of the proposed parking meters. They can take coins. They can take smart cards. The smart cards are really smart, and will either keep paying for your meter until you get back, or refund you the unused time. They have nifty green coin jars in them, easily swapped out when it's time to collect. And maintenance is a dream — just open it up and swap out the 'head.'
The Selectboard was obviously awed by the presentation and approved the purchase of the new meters unanimously. The meters will cost $76,000 and be paid for by a lease-to-purchase plan.
Then came the big box store ordinance, aka Large Scale Retail Uses Ordinance. At issue was the ordinance's teeth. Ordinance advocates, including the Planning Commission, want developers to hire an independent consulting firm to conduct a review of the new project's impact on the town. Steve Steidle and other opponents from the public wanted to drop language requiring the consultant to be chosen from a list of consultants approved by the Development Review Board. It was up to the board to approve the ordinance with amendments, amend it further (requiring another warned hearing) or reject it altogether.
Jim Mullen led off, damning it with faint praise. "Feel free to make changes," he said. "We've got lots of time." Greg Worden folllowed, describing his concerns about the requirement that developers use an approved consultant to do their independent impact report. For his part, Steve Steidle saw nothing wrong with a developer choosing its own consultant to do the independent impact report. Audrey Garfield however felt that the ordinance would lose its teeth if applicants were able to just go with their own consultant, as the resulting review could not then be called independent.
Jerry Remillard came out in favor of the ordinance, saying that he hadn't started out in favor, but had since come to believe that an independent study is necessary for large-scale development projects. He said that developers often ask him, "what's the game plan," and that this ordinance spells it out clearly.
Dick DeGray then said that no matter who does the impact report, it will be biased in favor of the developer (who is paying for the report) and therefore, it doesn't matter who we ask to do the review. He felt that a quasi-independent review, conducted by an approved developer, was as good as it got. A number of people agreed that any consultant hired for the job was going to skew it in favor of the client's application. Others, including Garfield, felt that an approved consultant wouldn't stay approved long if they were found to be deliberately biasing their reports in favor of the applicant in contradiction of data.
But Steve Steidle, as well as Dart Everett, Mark Tarmy and several others, were adamant that the ordinance would be unfriendly to new business. They felt that the requirement to use an approved consultant would send an unwelcoming message to the incoming business applicant. And for a while, it looked like they would prevail.
But toward the end of discussion, after many people had weighed in several times, it emerged that Dick DeGray, Kevin Yager and Audrey Garfield were all more or less in favor of the ordinance. Which left only Greg Worden and Steve Steidle against. It came to a vote. The hands went up, slowly at first, and then they were all there — a unanimous vote in favor of the first ever large-scale retail ordinance in a Vermont town. To many in the audience, it was like witnessing a small miracle.
So maybe Jerry was right. Maybe there was something in the air tonight. But regardless of the reason, this Selectboard meeting was certainly one for the record books.