There are significant changes coming to the Brattleboro Zoning Bylaw and Subdivision Regulations. The changes will have significant impacts on property owners, land development patterns and Grand List values.
If such matters interest you, please get involved early. As time passes so does the ability to participate. Raising concerns after the ship has sailed is a fruitless tradition.
Meetings will held on the following dates:
Mon Jan 05 @ 6:00PM
Brattleboro PC Meeting
Mon Feb 02 @ 6:00PM
Brattleboro PC Meeting
Mon Mar 02 @ 6:00PM
Brattleboro PC Meeting
The project website is still missing the critical changes to Development Standards, Use and Dimensional Standards, Districts, Overlays, etc., Hopefully they will be posted soon:
http://www.placesense.com/current/brattleboro
Adam Hubbard
ahub@sover.net
Total re-write?
This is a total re-write of the regulations, right?
There probably isn’t a more direct way to influence the way Brattleboro looks and acts for the next 30 years than getting involved with this process. Zoning determines what kinds of houses and businesses, where they can be placed, sidewalks, bike paths, and all sorts of other things that we live with, and love or gripe about daily.
It would be good if Planning came up with some ways other than attending meetings for people to participate. It would be great to have the same sort of buy-in/effort that the Town Plan received.
In reading your comment I would add...
…That this type of planning shouldn’t just target property owners…
Is the Planning Commission
Is the Planning Commission the sole authority for approving this?
Lots of approvals
No, Planning does all the initial heavy lifting, but then everyone gets to approve it… pretty sure the Development Review Board has a look, the Selectboard for sure, and perhaps the Windham Regional Commission.
And residents.
Unless it is another one of the rights of the people banned under the charter, residents have a right to give their input at public hearings held by the planning commission and selectboard.
Ops at BWFM in Jan & Feb
I heard last night that there will be opportunities to learn more about and give feedback on these changes at the Brattleboro Winter Farmers’ Market in January and February. I will post the two Saturday dates when I get them.
Synopsis?
That stuff is long, dense, and takes time to wade through it all. I started reading the proposed new ordinance, but it is not easy to understand what is being changed and why. I wonder if Adam would mind pointing the most significant changes, and what impact they are expected to have.
Zoning Synopsis
I will be happy to give a synopsis when the consultant distributes the latest draft of Sections 2 & 3.
These sections deal with uses, setbacks, frontages, etc.. The development standards are also being rewritten.
If the forthcoming draft is like earlier version, which we expect, these two important sections will really raise the bar on restrictions to landowners, particularly in the Rural, Rural Residential and Residential districts.
The Urban Center will likely remain the same.
Newly defined districts are expected.
I’ll provide more later.
Purpose of the meetings?
Thank you Adam, and I am sure that your further additions will be much anticipated.
A series of meetings has been announced, but there is no explanation of what the goals of the meeting will be. Are the meetings to roll out the new ordinance, and is the number of meetings scheduled in order to give interested people ample opportunity to attend, which each meeting essentially being duplicates? Or will each meeting have a different purpose from the other meetings, so that it would make sense to attend all of them rather than just one?
The more “heads-up” we can get, the less feeling of mystification there will be, and greater likelihood for a successful outcome.