The Brattleboro Selectboard heard the third of four presentations by the Planning Services department regarding new and major changes to Brattleboro’s land use regulations and development process.
This Tuesday’s topic was the new, streamlined Planned Unit Development process, in which developers give up some freedom in exchange for quicker, more certain approval. No developers were at the meeting to offer any opinions, but the board predicted that they would make any objections known before the new rules and regs are adopted. That is, soon.
Preliminaries
Being a special meeting, the board jumped right into business. No public had anything to participate about.
Kate O’Connor was absent due to a scheduling conflict, and Patrick Moreland sat in for Town Manager Peter Elwell.
Liquor Commissioners
A special event permit was approved by the Brattleboro Selectboard, acting as Liquor Commissioners, for Hermit Thrush Brewery to host a Pint Pours and Food Event on June 5th and June 6th in the gallery area of their store. They will provide samples of their product, and some cheese.
Land Use Regulations, Part III: Development Review Procedures
Rod Francis and Sue Fillion of Brattleboro’s Planning Services department gave their third of four presentations to the selectboard regarding upcoming changes to Brattleboro’s Land Use Regulations. They were joined by Liz McCloughlin of the Planning Commission.
Francis began with a reminder that many of the new procedures were dictated by state statute. “Much of the actual language is handed to us, and locked,” he told the board.
The current Planned Unit Development (PUD) process in Brattleboro, Francis explained, is set up for developers to suggest alternative uses for parcels of land that takes them down a complicated path of meetings, first with the Development Review Board (DRB) , then the Planning Commission, then the DRB, then Planning Commission, then Selectboard approval, then DRB approval.
He said it was akin to re-writing the zoning ordinance for specific parcels, something he called “spot zoning.” Spot zoning, where a parcel of land gets special treatment without regard to underlying zoning, is “fundamentally illegal,” said Francis. The new approach will “move away from any suggestion that we do spot zoning,” in Brattleboro.
“Spot zoning, very bad,” he said, should be one takeaway lesson for the evening.
Major criticisms of the current approach are that it is uncertain, complex, and front-loaded, said Francis. A great deal of time, energy, and expense can be expended before knowing the outcome and decisions.
The newly proposed system would replace the uncertainty with a template-based approach. Five templates, specifically designed for compatible uses in zoning districts, would be available to developers. Developers could choose a template, apply to the DRB, and the DRB would issue a decision.
The templates are expected to provide for more orderly development, as they will align with the underlying zoning districts.
If a project cannot conform to a template, the option will remain for the zoning ordinance to be amended.
Fillion gave overviews of the five new PUD templates:
1. The Cottage Cluster PUD will allow for smaller square footage, affordable homes arranged around a common open space, like intentional communities based around age, arts, learning, and so on. At least 50% of the property will need to be open space, and the rest can be used for single and two-family homes and community space.
2. The Traditional Neighborhood PUD is designed to encourage walkable neighborhoods and interaction with the streetscape. They allow for increased density, and can be of mixed use with commercial and residential buildings. Front porches are required on 50% of the single family homes in this PUD. The lower part of Putney Road was mentioned as a possible place to use this.
3. Campus Development PUD is for business or industrial parks on a minimum of two acres. The focus here would be on light industry, parking at the periphery, buildings that transition from neighboring districts, and some open space.
4. The Conservation Subdivision PUD was discussed at the last meeting in detail. It has requirements for subdividing rural parcels of five lots or more.
5. Rural Enterprise PUD was also discussed at the last meeting. These are requirements for creating a rural-compatible business on 9 acres or more, such as a demonstration center, or B&B.
Current PUDs in Brattleboro will either default to the new, underlying zoning, or can stick with their original PUD plan. The decision will depend on the property owner’s plans, and whether their original PUD gives them options that the new zoning would no longer permit.
Some existing PUDs for properties, such as the hospital and Delta Campus, will fit into the underlying zoning, the board was told.
David Gartenstein said he thought developers would appreciate the simplification, but might push back on the rigidity of the template approach.
Francis said the new approach will allow for an explanation of community expectations, but also a way to make a “quick, strong, appeal-proof decision.” He said it does reduce current freedoms. “It is a trade off.”
David Schoales had concerns about the way the zoning maps, covered in Part I, were drawn, and suggested that there were many uses for land near the Farmers’ Market that he didn’t see reflected in the colored maps. He said it was a diverse and various terrain, and didn’t want ti to be hard for people to do good things there.
Francis said the Farmers’ Market was a permitted use in the Water and Recreation district to which he referred, but also defended the zoning districts as reflecting the community values, adding that his office had to consider everyone in town, not just applicants. And, he said, his department has learned that “silence is not consent.”
Fillion noted that they are still accepting comments and feedback on all of these suggestions.
Gartenstein backed up Schoales’ inquiry. “The goal on ensuring that people can make reasonable use of their land remains importnat for this board.” He called it a significant priority.
McCloughlin said the goal of all this work was to streamline.
Schoales wondered how to better engage the public.
After a brief discussion of the large parcel of cleared land near Exit 2, and how the owners would not be able to add anything with drive through lanes, or a gas station, under the new system, the discussion of PUDs wound down.
Gartenstein predicted that developers might object at the Public Hearing stage of the process, despite giving everyone much time to weigh in.
“The ones who will come make their living from it.”
Subdivision Process Simplification
Francis said he had big news regarding sub-divisions: lot line adjustments and mergers will, under the proposed changes, be approved administratively. He admitted his announcement of “big news” was a bit sarcastic, but that the proposed change would save applicants time and money.
Brattleboro’s current process requires approval by the Development Review Board.
In exchange for the simplification, there will be a new requirement for a pre-planning meeting with the Planning Services department. At the meeting, the department can establish preliminary information on the proposal, provide information about the process, flag environmental or community concerns, let applicants know all requirements, and point out helpful state and other resources.
Waivers
Brattleboro currently allows waivers of “dimensional standards,” but the process is “a bit of a free for all,” according to Fillion. Dimensional standards deal with setbacks, lot coverage, building footprints, and similar issues.
Francis agreed. “It’s on a case by case basis.” He said it was currently hard to explain how previous waivers were granted.
The newly proposed system would place upper limits on how far a developer could go by providing a range of acceptable criteria. Applicants seeking waivers would know what limits they faced, and abutting neighbors could be told the best and worst case scenarios with more certainty.
Concerns of abutting neighbors, Francis said, were the key motivation for making the change.
Fillion said that having a consistent system would have the added benefit of providing data. If many waivers are issued for a certain district, over time that might indicate that the underlying zoning needs an update.
Overall, the new waiver criteria will be easier to meet, but there will be maximum sizes in place to keep things fair and consistent.
The Historic District Overlay
Brattleboro currently has four historic districts in the National Register: the West Brattleboro Village Green, Downtown Brattleboro, and the Clark-Canal Street and Homestead-Horton neighborhoods. New structures in these areas will need to be compatible with the historic character of the district.
Existing structures must be 50 years old and have some historic or architectural merit to be considered a “contributing structure” to the district.
The board was told that the number one concern of developers was that they have full access to change the interior of a structure.
A new committee is being proposed that would review plans in theses districts to ensure they meet the criteria, which will mostly be related to the exterior facade of the building. The committee, it is suggested, would have three members with a background in architecture, historic preservation, or similar professions.
Part IV
The fourth and final overview presentation on June 2 will cover new design and performance standards.
