The Brattleboro Planning Commission will be hosting a series of events in January and February to introduce its comprehensive revision of the town’s land use regulations.
“The Planning Department has been working with the Planning Commission and Brandy Saxton of PlaceSense to design an outreach and public comment process that offers people many opportunities to comment and better understand the intent and purpose of these proposed regulations,” Brattleboro Planning Director Rod Francis said.
“Our Town Plan benefited from extensive public input and we are eager to receive feedback on this work which implements so much of what people told us through the Town Plan process. We are very excited by the opportunity to demonstrate how we see these new regulations protecting Brattleboro’s assets while preparing us for a bright future.”
The 2013 Town Plan called for the zoning and subdivision regulations, which were last rewritten in the 1980s, to be brought up-to-date with contemporary planning practices.
“With this proposed zoning amendment, the Brattleboro Planning Commission is fulfilling the promise of the Town Plan and providing responsible development regulations consistent with state law,” said Planning Commission Chairperson Elizabeth McLoughlin.
The public outreach effort will begin on Thursday, Jan. 22 with an open house from 3 to 6 p.m. at the Marlboro Graduate Center.
“The open house is being designed for those who aren’t very familiar with the town’s current regulations or aren’t really sure what they need to know about the proposed revision. It will be an informal venue where people can drop-in at their convenience, ask questions, look at maps and
illustrations, and pick-up informational materials.” said Brandy Saxton.
Following the open house, there will be a more formal kick-off presentation starting at 7 p.m. at the Marlboro Graduate Center. The presentation will summarize the intent of the proposed revisions and will include a virtual walking tour along selected corridors to explain some of the proposed changes.
The outreach effort will continue with two sessions on Friday, Jan. 23. At 8 a.m., there will be a breakfast meeting at the Marlboro Graduate Center oriented towards land development and real estate professionals that will delve deeper into the proposed regulations.
At noon on Friday, Jan. 13, there will be a brown bag lunch at the Brooks Memorial Library focused on the historic and natural resource protection, energy and agricultural aspects of the proposed regulations.
On Saturday, Jan. 24, representatives will be available to answer questions and distribute informational materials from a table at the Farmers’ Market in the River Garden between 10 a.m. and 2 p.m.
A second series of events will be held on Feb. 5 through 7 including another open house on Feb. 5 between 3:30 and 5:30 p.m. at the River Garden and a meeting focused on the proposed zoning changes in and around downtown at 7 p.m. that evening, at a location to be announced.
A complete schedule of events and more information about the proposed revision to the town’s regulations is available on the project website at www.placesense.com/brattleboro.
Town of Brattleboro
230 Main Street, Suite 202
Brattleboro, VT 05301
Phone: 802.251.8112
Fax: 802.254.6456
Zoning rewrite: explanation
The Reformer ran a story about the proposed zoning changes:
http://www.reformer.com/News/ci_27301217/Next-step-is-a-zoning-rewrite
The article ends with the following discussion of what the rewrite hopes to accomplish:
Planning Commission Chairwoman Liz McLoughlin said the Town Plan process included public meetings, analysis and neighborhood walks, all of which she said informed the Planning Commission on the values Brattleboro residents wanted their town’s land use rules to embrace.
The 1960s and ’70s land use rules opened the way to sprawl and unplanned rural development, a reliance on automobile travel and discouragement of mixed use communities. The new Town Plan makes it clear that Brattleboro residents want to encourage the agriculture, open land, farmers’ markets and walkable neighborhoods that include retail, housing and appropriately scaled business.
The proposed regulations, McLoughlin said, should make it easier for the town to reach those goals.
“It’s a consistent next-step from doing the Town Plan to do the zoning amendments,” McLoughlin said. “All of the underpinnings of the zoning changes were laid out by a series of workshops focussed around the Town Plan. We really want to have responsible development and we want to protect neighborhoods, and we want to have a town that is best for its residents and businesses. The new element is we want to be sustainable and have modern practices for development”