TOWN OF ARLINGTON
PLANNING COMMISSION MEETING
Minutes of Meeting – Thursday August 22, 2019
Members Present–Chairman John Williams, Charles Moore, Chris Heins, Garret Siegel, Elliott Nachwalter and Bill Henry (Land Use Administrator)
Others Present: Henry Hall, Kathy Hall
- PROCEEDINGS:
- The meeting was called to order at 7:00 pm by John Williams.
- The meeting minutes of July 25, 2019 were accepted as revised and approved.
- The warned subdivision of land at 2536 VT route 313 and Pickering Hill road in the rural district was reviewed in the form of a site plan prepared by Larry Parks instead of a sketch plan. The site plan was presented by the owners, Henry and Kathy Hall. The subdivision will be served with existing roads. Based on a motion by Heins, the subdivision was classified as a minor subdivision with four or fewer lots, per Section 6.01 in the current subdivision bylaw amended in 1999. Per Section 6.01, the Planning Commission also reviewed the site(sketch)plan and found no obvious conflicts with the Municipal Regulations (Town Plan, Zoning Regulations etc.). Therefore, the owners can now proceed to a final plat review by the Land Use Administrator and Planning Commission once the state water and wastewater permits are available.
- Bill Henry has found that some permitted uses of Agriculture are still included in Use Districts in Section 6 of the Draft Bylaw. Since Agriculture uses are exempt from compliance in Section 5 of the Bylaw, these permitted uses will be removed as editorial corrections. Bill also reserved the right to submit other small editorial changes to the draft bylaw which would not require an additional hearing.
- Since there was no further public comment at the meeting or by the adjoining towns, the state or BCRC on the 2019 Draft Land Use Bylaw, the Planning Commission voted to close the public hearing on the Bylaw based on a motion by Heins and seconded by Moore. The Planning Commission also voted to advance the Bylaw to the Arlington Select Board for review and adoption following any small editorial changes by W. Henry based on a motion by Heins and seconded by Moore.
- Charlie Moore reported on his August 12, 2019 presentation to the Arlington Select Board on the Draft Arlington Energy Chapter and a letter to owners of properties with potential “preferred” solar development sites. The letter asks the owner if they are willing to have their property listed as one of the “preferred” solar sites without any other commitment. A Preferred Site Designation fact sheet would also be included for guidance with the letter. The Select Board approved sending the letter with the town letterhead along with the fact sheet to the property owners. The letter and fact sheet are attached at the end of these minutes.
- John Williams proposed issuing the Draft Arlington Energy Chapter as a separate document designated as the Arlington Energy Plan and post it on the town web site like Sunderland. With this approach, we could issue the Energy Plan quickly without waiting for an update of the town plan that would have to be updated again after the 2020 Census data evaluations. The current 2015 town plan could be re-adopted now by the Select Board until a final updated plan is available in 2021. In the past, we also had to re-adopt the old town plan before 2015 to wait for grant money for BCRC to support the work on the current 2015 Town Plan.
Charlie will contact BCRC to see if they have any objections to this approach.
- The following Land Use Administrators report for August was presented by Bill Henry.
August Monthly Report:
The following zoning permits were issued:
#3188 – Town of Arlington, Rec Park, new benches and resurface
paths in the flood hazard area. Comments received from State. ZBA approved.
#3190 – Robert Stockoff, 5038 River Road, movable 3 stall barn and hay shed in a flood hazard area in the rural district. State has approved. Land Use Administrator approved as an agricultural use.
#3194 – Sandra Wood, 45 Battenkill Lane in the Village-Residential District, new shed. Variance required due to not meeting required setbacks. ZBA approved.
#3196 – Michael Foley, 68 Overlook Terrace in the Rural District, mudroom addition.
#3197 – Glenn and Laurie Sherman, 1220 Maple Hill Road in the Rural District, new residence.
#3198 – Francis and Patricia Preseault, 237 Country View in the Rural District, roof over existing front deck.
Zoning permits pending:
#3199 – Nick and Betsie Brunina, 48 Jasper Lane in the Village- Residential District, above-ground pool. Variance required due to not meeting required setbacks. ZBA scheduled for 9/4/19.
#3200 – Richard and Jane Coulter, 203 Mountain View Drive in the Rural District, house addition.
Other activities:
241 Raven Rock Road – Notice of Violation issued for operating Aaron Septic and Drain, LLC without a “base of operations” permit. Complaint filed by Attorney Joe O’Dea with the Environmental Court, denied by resident. Status conference held 8/19/19. Court ordered Mediation by November 1 and Trial ready November 11.
133 East Arlington Rd. – State (Patrick Lowkes) issued Notice of Violation 01/31/19 for septic system, not received by resident, but was hand delivered by State 03/28/19. Per Lowkes email dated 8/13/19, extension was granted to Friday, August 23.
I am investigating a complaint of smoke from a wood boiler installed in the past year at 137 Raspberry Hill. I met with the owner and neighbor and have supplied information on the make/model to the State (Dave Shepard, Agency of Air Quality). Property does not allow for a 200 ft. setback from neighbors, which puts the boiler in violation. State has proposed extending the stack height, limit use to the winter months and have the neighbors sign an agreement to allow this to see if it works. If it doesn’t work, the boiler would be removed or replaced with a new, more efficient model.
End of Land Use Administrator’s Monthly Report.
The meeting was adjourned at 8:15 pm. The next regular meeting is scheduled for Thursday, September 26, 2019 at 7:00 pm.
Respectfully Submitted by: Chairman, John Williams