Town of Arlington
Planning Commission Meeting Minutes
Date, Thursday, August 28, 2025
Location: Arlington Town Hall
Members Present: Jon Murray, Sebastian Massey, Jenna Tait, Mary Anne Holmes, Michael Murno, Sunjit Chawla, Garret Siegel
Other Attendees: Joan Nash (Arlington Land Use Administrator)
Minutes:
The meeting was called to order at 7:02pm by Chair, Garret Siegel
Approval of Minutes:
A motion to approve the minutes from the previous meeting was made by Michael Murno and seconded by Jon Murray. The motion passed unanimously.
Public Comments Unrelated to the Agenda:
There were no public comments.
Warned Business/Announcements:
The Chair noted that Cynthia Browning stepped down from the Select Board at the board’s August 18th meeting. Cynthia will function as the Interim Town Administrator until January 2026. The Select Board is now seeking an interim member to the Select Board. A new SB member will be voted at the time of Town Meeting in March.
It was noted and encouraged that members of the APC should regularly read the minutes from the Select Board meetings.
In July, Christine Jenne had presented a site plan to the APC in her hopes to receive a permit with variance allowing for the construction of a new garage at her property in the Village Residential district (VR). The permit request was rejected by the ZBA due to the stated need for a 20ft fire access lane. This requirement is not in the by-laws.
Red Mountain Tract update: As motioned in the APC meeting in July, a letter regarding the Red Mountain tract was sent out to the Select Board on August 18th. The Planning Commission has been added to the agenda of the Select Board’s scheduled meeting on September 8th. Garret encouraged any member of the PC interested to come to the meeting.
There was some further discussion around the value of Arlington acquiring the patch of land in response to a series of questions by Sunjit. General conversation reiterated the many advantages as per our previous conversations.
Enforcement Update: Garret noted that the Planning Commission as well as Joan Nash had also been added to the Select Board’s September 8th meeting to discuss enforcement issues that have been previously discussed. The Select Board has recently been using the town lawyer to work on two permitting issues, but that there are several unresolved violations dating back over years that have not been advanced to the Environmental Court for resolution. The PC had previously been advised that there were insufficient funds to resolve these issues. It was agreed that the town needs to enforce these violations.
The two permitting issues that recently appeared before the Select Board:
- The Red Mountain LLC with 30 acres is trying to do a 4 lot subdivision which would include two new homes as well as a possible camp. The LLC has been using a right of way/easement from 1817 for access. There was general discussion of Joan’s research around the right of way and of right of ways more generally. The PC thought the issue was noteworthy by its presence before the Select Board and the involvement of the town lawyer. Joan has had limited interaction with the LLC. It would be expected that the issue would be subject to the usual channels of town permitting.
- Access issues at the Covered Bridge: a recent article in the Bennington Banner highlighted a current access dispute at a property near the Covered Bridge. The owner had begun to put up a fence in the town right of way as well as the State public river access on the East side of the Covered Bridge. The owners of the property recently appeared before the Select Board to discuss this issue. According to the Select Board’s minutes for August 18th, Cynthia Browning told the owners that they could petition the SB to allow for a fence in the right of way. This assertion seems contradictory to related town bylaws. There was further discussion of the bylaws and setbacks related to fencing.
The revised Arlington Hazard Mitigation Plan will be a fully-fledged document as of Friday 8/29 and going out for public comment on Tuesday. The plan will be sent to the Planning Commission and then to the Select Board as part of its approval process. There was a discussion of the Hazard Action Points in the proposed plan. It was noted that action #22 would call for a registry of short terms rentals to allow for the town Emergency Management Director, currently Nick Zaiac, to be aware of the transient populations that could need aide during a town-wide/regional emergency. The Commission agreed that we would consider this issue when the HMP has been approved by the town. Three members of the Planning Commission have participated in the revision of the town’s Hazard Mitigation Plan: Mary Anne Holmes, Michael Murno and Garret Siegel.
Discussion about Future Map Updates: Nick Zaiac contacted Garret and Joan earlier in August regarding the BCRC’s hope to return in September to update us on the Future Map updates originally presented to the Commission on June 26th. Nick also noted that he wanted to know if the PC would be interested in applying for a municipal planning grant to update the Town Plan prior to its expiration.
A motion was made by Garret Siegel that the Planning Commission ask the Select Board to apply for municipal planning grant through BCRC to pay for assistance with changes to the town plan before its expiration. The motion was seconded by Jenna Tait and adopted unanimously by the PC.
Some discussion resulted from an observation by Jenna about reading a recent town wastewater meeting report. This discussion led to acknowledgement that the PC should do more to stay current on town projects and that it felt that communication updates between various town committees could be better.
There was a quick review of the current LUA report dated 8/28/25.
Jenna proposed that the subject of the future vision for our town be put on a later agenda. Garret noted the anticipated revision to the Town Plan would be the ideal time to discuss this subject, but that the subject could of course be discussed over the course of future PC meetings.
It was further noted that Joan would still like us to have a more generalized conversation about Fences added to a future agenda.
A motion to adjourn was made at 9:08 by Michael Murno and was seconded by John Murray. The motion was approved.
The next meeting of the Arlington Planning Commission will be on September 25th.
Arlington Planning Commission – Statement on Red Mountain Parcel
The Arlington Planning Commission exists to serve as both the author and custodian of the Town Plan and associated Bylaws as adopted by the Select Board. In this capacity, it is our mission to evaluate proposed town actions and advise as to whether they are consistent with and serve the furtherance of the Town Plan.
Following a presentation at our July 24th meeting by David Naaktgeboren and Peter Hildick-Smith regarding the continued opportunity for the Town to acquire the Red Mountain parcel (~400 acres) for use as a town forest—with acquisition costs covered through grants and private fundraising—the Planning Commission has reviewed the proposal in the context of the adopted Town Plan (adopted by the Select Board, June 29, 2020).
We find that the proposed acquisition is consistent with the following stated goals of the Town Plan:
- 4.3 Maintain the Rural Character of the Town
- “Forested mountains, the free-flowing Batten Kill surrounded by open fields and pastures, small rural settlements, and the village centers … all combine to give the Town its unique rural appeal. Preservation of this rural landscape, with its attendant cultural, historical, recreational and aesthetic benefits is a priority for the Town.”
- 4.4 Protect Important Natural and Cultural Resources
“Forest fragmentation shall be discouraged using the land use policies and the development review process.” - 4.5 Maintain and Enhance Recreational Opportunities
“Mechanisms for maintaining or expanding public access to recreational resources such as streams, trails, and forests should be explored.” - 7.7 Forest Policy
- “Large unfragmented forests should remain intact to protect habitat for species dependent on that habitat, to slow and retain runoff, to protect water and air quality, to provide sustainable forest uses such as timbering and maple sugaring and to provide recreational and scenic resources.”
- Important Natural Areas Policies and Actions: Natural Areas Policy (p.54)
- “Natural features and areas should be protected so as to maintain habitat of the rare species and natural communities, including ecological processes, and to maintain the unique areas or physical features of Arlington.”
- 12.2 Natural and Recreational Resources
- “… because most of the forest land in Arlington is in private ownership, continued access to these areas, and the extensive trail systems that traverse them, is a concern. Various options to maintain access are available, and should be pursued (e.g. acquisition of easements and public land acquisition)
- 12.4 Recreation Actions
- “The Town should consider public acquisition of forest land where such acquisition would preserve access to important resources without posing undue cost to the Town.”
- Appendix I. Review of Statutory Requirements – Consistency with State Goals: 9, To encourage and strengthen agricultural and forest industries
- “The Town Plan states that Arlington should foster the use of local forest and agricultural products. Even though they represent a small part of the labor force, they involve large land areas. It is mentioned that the continued use and conservation of agricultural and forest resources should be encouraged.”
These listed goals are just a few of many within the Arlington Town Plan that support the acquisition of land for the purposes of conservation of forest lands, for the safeguarding of our valuable watershed, for public recreation, for sustained wildlife habitat and for the preservation and utilization of our natural resources.
In addition, while not part of the 2020 Town Plan, we note that in 2022 the Town of Arlington adopted a goal to become carbon neutral by 2027. According to a presentation from the Arlington Energy Committee on May 7, 2025, acquisition and stewardship of the Red Mountain parcel as a town forest would play a significant role in achieving that target.
Accordingly, the Planning Commission sees no inconsistency between the proposed acquisition and the goals and policies of the Town Plan and recognizes the initiative as one that supports both current and future priorities for the town.
While we acknowledge that the previous attempt to acquire the land was ultimately set back due to access issues—and note that resolution of any access issue remains a key concern—the Planning Commission would like to encourage the Select Board to reconsider the possible acquisition of the Red Mountain Parcel before it ends up in private hands.
Respectfully, and unanimously submitted, August 18, 2025.
- Garret Siegel, Chair
- Sebastian Massey
- Jenna Tait
- Michael Murno
- Jon Murray
- Sunjit Chawla
- Mary Anne Holmes
Land Use Administrator’s Report for APC
Date range: 7/23/25 – 8/28/25
Permits issued: None
2024-06-11 21-02-21.000 VR Wirrki, Olavi 102 Ice Pond Rd 3435 Boundary Line Adj
2024-10-24 21-02-21.000 VR JC Waitt LLC 21 Ice Pond Rd 3435 Boundary Line Adj
2025-07-24 05-01-40.000 R Estey, Deborah 430 Red Mountain Rd 3449 Garage
2025-07-29 11-01-05.002 R MacArthur, Andrew 733 Lost Lake Rd 3450 Garage
2025-08-0 16-02-20.00 VR Wade, Matt & Kelly 134 Woodchuck Hill 3451 Revised permit/ Decks
2025-08-14 14-2-09.000 R Witmer, Harlan 487 Warm Brook Rd 3452 Accessory Buildings
2025-08-14 20-02-11.000 VR Irwin, Benjamin 1190 East Arlington Rd 3444 Garage
2025-08-19 06-02-23.000 R Albert, Nick 0 Chittenden Dr 3448 New Residence
2025-08-26 09-02-17.000 R Keating, Jeffrey 1529 Old West Rd 3455 Carport
Pending Permits:
Date Parcel ID Zone Last Name, First Name Address Permit# Type
2025-02-20 210-2-21.000 VR Furgeson, Joe 833 E. Arlington Rd Addition
2025-03-24 13-1-14.001 R Murphy, Kevin 908 Butternut Gutter Minor Subdivision
2025-04-01 13-1-14 R Pou, Jonathon 74 Gordon’s Way New Residence, replace
2025-04-03 12-02-03.000 R Watkins, David 1456 River Rd Excavation
2025-04-17 11-02-34.002 CRR Johnson, Bertha 2880 VT Route 7A New Residence
2025-05-14 13-2-13.000 R Hayes, Kevin 1091 Warm Brook Rd New Residence, replace
2025-05-15 03-01-26.000 R Gondek , Paul 2318 River Road Accessory Buildings
2025-08-19 03-01-12.000 R Edgerton/ Quinn/ Haber 3263 River Road Boundary Line Adj
2025-08-21 12-02-26.001 VR Gilmore, Stephen 797 E. Arlington Rd Porches/Decks/Patios
2025-08-26 09-02-17.000 R Keating, Jeffrey 1529 Old West Rd Carport/ Lean-to
2025-08-26 06-04-06.000 R Symonoski, Jonathan 0 High Pine Dr New Residence
Withdrawn Permits:
2025-07-01 22-01-13.000 VR Jenne, Christine 3117 VT Route 7A Garage
Permits Pending APC:
Date Parcel ID Zone Last Name, First Name Address Permit# / Type
2024-09-05 60-3-12.000 R/CRR Battenkill RV, LLC 48 Camping on the Battenkill 3430 Campground
APC conditions need to be met before this can progress to the ZBA.
8/21/25 Surveyor revised map received. Pending approval.
Permits Pending ZBA: None
Violations:
3358 KIMBERLY BARNES 3383 VT Route 313 West R 03-3-02
3/8/23: Certified letter NOV received. 4/3/23: Select Board letter upheld LUA violation 5/11/23: Sent letter recognizing that the commercial production appears to have ceased, Barnes is also selling equipment. We can cease fines if Barnes signs the memo of understanding. 6/20/23: No contact from Barnes. Drove by 6/15 to see a very large pile of split wood. 8/18/23: Large dump truck next to piles of wood. Clearly not for household use. 9/30/23: Continue to see wood piles with splitter, dump truck. Active firewood production. 10/24/23: Continue to see wood piles with splitter, dump truck. Active firewood production. 11/30/23 Less production 12/31/23: Small volume production. 1/11/24: Merrill Bent requested documentation to pursue violation with environmental court. Lien placed on property for $58,600 in fines for 3/16/23 – 1/2/24. 2/29 No Change. 3/12/24 Lien discharged as requested by Nick. The lien may be replaced following the Environmental Court hearing. 6/4/24 – No change. Neighbor inquiry as to what the town is doing about their violation. 7/5/24 Saw online advertising for firewood listing address in violation. 8/12/24 Continuing to process wood including large trucks full of split wood leaving yard. 9/3/24 Provided Nick with more Facebook advertising for Barnes wood and also other services: lawn care, plowing, hauling. Nick sent to legal team. He had contact from John Whalen, attorney for Barnes. 10/31/24 Discussed Barnes’ situation with John Whalen and provided copies of APC minutes, letter from Highway Dept, etc.. He didn’t sound to hopeful that he could make a difference. 11/30/24 – No change, no further contact. 12/31/24 – No further contact however I documented more advertising on FB 2/25/25 Continuing business and advertising. 3/25/25 Continuing business and advertising firewood and additional services.
4/30/25 Continuing business and advertising firewood and additional services. 5/27/25 Continuing business and advertising firewood and additional services.7/22/25 Continuing business and advertising firewood and additional services. 8/28/25 Continuing business/ advertising firewood & other services.
GOULD, JEFFERY & MERIDITH 5226 River Road 2024-05-23 01-01-50 R
4/30/24 Citizen report about building materials such as posts laying down by the Battenkill 20 – 30’ away. 5/2/24 Letter of Inquiry mailed to owners. 5/9/24 Call with property owner who received the Letter of Inquiry. At this point a pavilion has been built and I gave a verbal cease and desist and in an email. Basically, the construction is done except for the roof.5/15/24 Owners working on permit. Requested an onsite visit to review the property.5/16/24 Owners cancelled the onsite visit due to family illness. Several calls and emails back and forth re application.5/20/24 Formal NOV received by Gould 5/23/24 Fee and application received. 5/28/24 Application sent to ANR for review.
6/10/24 Received follow-up questions from ANR. Followed up with answers on 6/18/24. 7/9/24 No word from ANR yet. Owner asking. 7/18/24 Kyle Medash of ANR approved of the way the pavilion is secured and states “The pavilion would presumably meet all of the accessory structure requirements (anchoring, flood resistant materials, no utilities, no permanent fixtures) if it were within the SFHA He does however stick up for the Arlington bylaws re: no structures in the floodway, and he doesn’t want this to set a precedent as it will make it difficult for the town to uphold our regulations.
8/24/26 APC hearing: denied permit. The pavilion needs to be moved to another area or removed entirely. We started with a 30-day window to get help and set a timeline. 9/26/24 The few emails I’ve received from Jeff Gould have been tirades about how unfair it is that he has so little build area, or how “others are getting away with it”, or he’s going to contact the listers about his property taxes since the land is unusable. Emailed Jeff today to ask if he has a timeline yet. I went by the place yesterday and I think he put the roof on it! Planning on sending out a formal violation letter next week unless I get a reasonable response. 10/8/24 Communicated with Jeff Gould re roof and ok’d to place to avoid damage by winter weather. 10/31/24 Emailed Jeff for update on retaining a surveyor. 11/26/24 – Gould’s new counsel – Alton Knapp of The Flood Risk Group. This is an outfit that tries their best to see through regulations to gain a positive outcome for the client. The surveyor doing delineation has fallen ill and told Gould he needed to get a new surveyor. 12/31/24 – no updates from owner or contact from the new consultant. Will f/u in NY. 2/21/25 Contacted with a sincere effort to relocate the pavilion. A small foot bridge will need to be built to allow reasonable access to the river, or a current bridge on the other side of the property will need to be repaired. Possible wetland delineation to see if the entire area shown as wetlands is actually. Once plans are submitted the APC will review. 3/25/25 No updates this month. 4/30/25 No updates this month. Emailed to get status. 5/8/25 “paying a fabrication company to build and install metal footings on the bottom of the six posts and adding wheels on the pavilion so I can move it out of the flood zone. I will be able to move it with my pick-up truck. I looked into a crane to pick it up but the company said the ground would be way too soft for that size of a vehicle. The fabrication has started hopefully be done soon.
5/27/25 Emailed to get status. 5/29/25 “It’s progressing. Welding is done just waiting in the special order tires that can handle that much weight. Once they are in we can get them installed and jack the pavilion and get them on and move it.” 7/22/25 Sent follow up email. 8/5/25 “Sorry for the delayed response we just got back from vacation last night. We were gone for a month. We tried moving it about 45 days ago and it sank because of all the rain every single weekend. I have much wider tires coming in that we’re gonna try next if that doesn’t work then obviously we have to take it apart.”
BATTENKILL RV, LLC 48 Camping on the Battenkill Rd 06-03-12.000 R/CRR
5/23/24 Contacted by Mike Healy on behalf of owners of Battenkill RV LLC, Modern American Campgrounds. A discovery when the property was purchased that there were permits for 96 campsites and there are actually 111 camp sites. While this is a violation the property owners are bringing it to our attention and want to obtain permits for the additional sites and be in compliance with our bylaws. 5/30/24 Conversations re application process, ANR approval, hearings, site maps, etc… 6/4/24 Received first drafts of application and site plan. Responded with request for changes and edits. 6/6/24 Mike acknowledged the requested edits/ changes and will work on these. 7/11/24 Many emails and calls, along with research the past month. Gave direction on site plan needs and also follow-up with ANR. Nick Zaiac also spoke with them re: site plan needs. 7/30/24 Meredith Maskell contacted regarding the public water supply operating permit issued WSID 8108, and question of how many wells are on site, as well Kim Lutchko contacted re ACT 250. 8/31/24 Ready for APC hearing on 9/26/24 10/31/24 Have tried emailing and calling a few different contacts, but no movement. Will write up formal violation next week if I don’t hear back. 11/30/24 – Violation Notice being sent next week for lack of action on APC recommendation. 12/31/24 – Was contacted immediately re: the violation notice and I now have another new contact who has promised to stay on top of this APC requirement. Had several phone calls to explain what is needed to move forward. 2/20/25 Spoke to Brian Lund who now has the surveyor looking at the 100 year flood line in conjunction with the floodway boundary, and the two lines on the survey will be made more prominent and added to the legend. Upon receipt of the updated survey the APC will receive a copy to review/ approve. 2/25/25 – Waiting on surveyor to provide corrections/ explanation for the APC. 3/25/25 No updates. Emailed for status.
4/30/25 No updates this month. Emailed to get status. 5/6/25 Told that I would have the updated survey by 5/16. 5/27/25 Emailed again to get status. 5/29/25 Looking for another surveyor to get this done. 7/22/25 email sent for status. 8/21/25 Received the revised map and forwarded to Garret. Pending APC approval.
Certificate of Compliance issued:
Date Parcel ID Zone Last Name, First Name Address Permit Structure
2025-08-01 16-02-20.000 VR Wade, Matt & Kelly 134 Woodchuck Hill 3442 Decks / Fail
2025-08-08 16-02-20.000 VR Wade, Matt & Kelly 134 Woodchuck Hill 3442 Decks / Pass
Zoning Compliance Letters Issued:
Date Parcel ID Zone Last Name, First Name Address
2025-07-31 15-03-03.000 VR Hurley, Linda 3975 VT Route 7A Letter of Compliance
2025-08-05 10-02-23.000 R Grinstead, William B 447 Farm Rd Letter of Compliance
2025-08-05 10-02-22.000 R Grinstead, William B 447 Farm Rd Letter of Compliance
2025-08-05 15-03-03.000 VR Hurley, Linda 3975 VT Route 7A Letter of Compliance
General Inquiries & Research:
Date Parcel ID Zone Last Name, First Name Address Inquiries
2025-07-24 09-02-19.002 R Sandler, Vladislav 272 Twenty Acre Wood Prospective buyer 1
2025-07-31 09-02-19.002 R Cornell, Gavin 0 Lois Lane Prospective buyer 2
2025-08-07 06-04-06.000 R Demeri, Kenneth, A 0 High Pine Dr Springs
2025-08-07 05-02-15.000 R Hyatt, Jennifer 294 Raven Rock Rd Subdivisions/ Roads
2025-08-12 50-2-16.000 R Gardner, Debbie 102 Glebe Lot Road Subdivisions/ Roads
2025-08-19 05-02-03.000 R Copeland, Kevin 235 Red Mountain rd Springs
2025-08-19 50-2-16.000 R Gardner, Debbie 102 Glebe Lot Road Subdivisions/ Roads
2025-08-19 06-04-06.000 R Demeri Kenneth, A 0 High Pine Dr New residence
2025-08-26 17-01-38.000 VR Lamoureux, Chantelle 22 Center Lane Customary Home Biz
2025-08-26 05-01-27.000 R Callahan, Robert & Julie 0 Red Mountain Rd Prospective buyer 3
2025-08-26 50-2-16.000 R Gardner, Debbie 102 Glebe Lot Road Subdivisions/ Roads
2025-08-26 15-03-34.000 VR Mcclafferty, Steven 231 School St ADUs/ exempt porches
2025-08-28 50-2-16.000 R Gardner, Debbie 102 Glebe Lot Road Subdivisions/ Roads
2025-08-28 09-02-19.002 R Sandler Vladislav 0 Twenty Acre Wood Prospective buyer 4
2025-08-28 09-02-19.002 R Sandler Vladislav 0 Twenty Acre Wood Prospective buyer 5
2025-08-28 0 TOWN Line Rd Container home?
2025-08-14 04-01-20.000 R/ FR Red Mountain II LLC Glebe Lot Rd Subdivisions/ Roads
Complaints:
Date Parcel ID Zone Last Name, First Name Address Complaints
2025-08-21 Koprosky, Greg Is there a “Blight” ordinance?
Exempt land use registrations: None