TOWN OF ARLINGTON
PLANNING COMMISSION MEETING
Minutes of Meeting – Thursday March 28, 2019
Members Present–John Williams, Chris Heins, Charles Moore and Bill Henry (Land Administrator).
Others Present:
- PROCEEDINGS:
- The meeting was called to order at 7:01 pm by John Williams. Fortunately, we had a quorum; thanks to Bill Henry.
- The meeting minutes of February 28 were accepted as revised and approved.
- The following Land Use Administrators reports for February and March were presented by Bill Henry. We forgot to ask for Bill Henry’s report in the February 28, 2019 meeting.
February Monthly Report:
The following zoning permits were issued:
#3176- Danny Hall, 56 Cemetery Road (Rural District)- conditional use permit for an accessory dwelling structure.
#3177- Terry Moffitt, 2487 VT RT 313 West (Rural District)- variance permit for a new shed.
#3179- Clyde Baker, 13 Old Mill Road (Commercial-Residential District)- new porch addition.
The following zoning permit application is in process:
#3180- Richard and Jane Coulter, 203 Mountain View Drive (Rural District) – variance permit for a new garage.
Other activities:
241 Raven Rock Road – Notice of Violation issued for operating
Aaron Septic and Drain, LLC without a “base of operations“permit.
3136 VT Route 313 West – Warning issued for collapsed building in violation of Bylaw Section 7.4, paragraph 2.
March Monthly Report:
The following zoning permit was issued:
#3180- Richard and Jane Coulter, 203 Mountain View Drive (Rural District) – variance permit for a new garage.
Other activities:
241 Raven Rock Road – Notice of Violation issued last month for operating Aaron Septic and Drain, LLC without a “base of operations” permit. Update: resident given a 15-day extension from 03/22/19 to submit appeal to ZBA.
3136 VT Route 313 West – Warning issued last month for collapsed building in violation of Bylaw Section 7.4, paragraph 2. Update: resident acknowledged problem and will address as weather improves.
333 East Arlington Rd. – State issued Notice of Violation 01/31/19 for septic system, not received by resident. I am meeting with state enforcement officer and resident Wednesday, 03/28/19, and will update at Planning Commission meeting.
487 Butternut Gutter Rd. – Received a radio frequency report for a cell tower as required by the bylaws to be submitted to the Planning Commission. Tower is in full compliance.
Other inquiries: Lease of land for growing hemp; cell tower maintenance.
- Based on Bill Henry’s 3-25-2019 email and Catherine Bryar’s 3-23-2019 email comments, we agreed to delete the old Bylaw Section 7.16 on Wireless Communication Facilities which are now regulated by the Public Utilities Commission. Bill Henry will add cell towers to a new section on exemptions to town bylaws.
- Per John Williams 3-1-2019 email, we needed to review the 2013 Bylaw and 2019 draft Bylaw definitions for an Accessory Dwelling Unit. We adopted the following the current 2013 Bylaw definition without a restriction on square feet.
Accessory Dwelling Unit (ADU): Efficiency or one bedroom dwelling unit located within or appurtenant to an owner-occupied one-family dwelling that is clearly subordinate to the one-family dwelling, which has facilities and provisions for independent living, including sleeping, food preparation, and sanitation, provided that the property has sufficient wastewater capacity.
We also approved the following typo corrections:
Section 6.3.2q should be changed from (See Section 7.20) to (See Section 7.17)
Section 6.3.2r should be changed from (See Section 7.21) to (See Section 7.18)
- Per John Williams 3-16-2019 email, we needed to review the different Right of Way definitions from Bill Henry and Catherine Bryars. We adopted the following definition from Bill for its simplicity.
Right-of-Way: The legal right, established by usage or grant, to pass through the grounds or property belonging to another.
- We adopted the following Bylaw changes from Bill Henry’s 3-25-2019 email.
7.14 Change title to “HOME OCCUPATION”,
7.14.1 Replace the first sentence: “No provision of this Bylaw shall infringe upon the right of any resident to use a minor portion of a dwelling that is customary in residential areas, which does not have an undue adverse effect upon the character of the residential area in which the dwelling is located. Home occupations are permitted in all districts where residential uses are permitted subject to satisfying the following criteria:”
7.14.1 Add a final paragraph after 4.: “Where it is determined by the land use administrator that the proposal does not meet the definitions or standards of home occupations above, the applicant may apply for a permit under the broader regulations for a base of operations (see Section 7.15).
Definitions, add “HOME OCCUPATION” “An occupation, carried on within a principal or accessory residential structure, which is customarily incidental and secondary to the use of the premises for dwelling purposes, and which does not substantially alter the character thereof.”
7.12 8.a.1) Change reference from 7.15.5 to 7.12.7.
7.12 9.d. add after the first sentence: “ Farm structures are not allowed in the floodway but may be allowed in the 100-year floodplain when adequately protected from inundation and floodwater damage.”
- The 2013 Bylaw does not include the maps of the zoning districts in Arlington. The applicant must look in the Arlington town plan for the maps. We decided to also include the same maps in the 2019 Bylaw for convenience.
- Based on the comments in March emails by Bill Henry and Rick Oberkirch of the Vermont DEC, we decided not to have a separate definition for Tiny homes since they must meet the same water and wastewater disposal standards of all size homes.
- We discussed that applicants may not be aware that the definitions in Appendix A may also include additional bylaw restrictions and not just information. Therefore, we decided to the add the following warning in Section 5.1.
Applicants should refer to Appendix A for information on definitions and possible additional bylaw restrictions.
- We discussed Bill Henry’s 3-25-2019 email on Bylaw exemptions and agreed that a new section 5.2 should be added to the Bylaw to list the exemptions for the applicant. Bill will write a proposal for the next meeting.
- Charlie Moore presented the current maps of possible sites for solar panel and wind turbine installations for the energy plan in the town of Arlington. The sites with enough wind for wind turbines were very few and far from major roads and major power lines. There were many possible sites for solar panels near major power lines with good access. Charlie will update the maps based on our discussions and present them for further discussion in a later meeting.
The meeting was adjourned at 9:00 pm. The next meeting is scheduled for Thursday, April 25, 2019 at 7:00 pm.
Respectfully Submitted by: John Williams