Arlington Planning Commission
Minutes – 7/23/2026
Planning Commission members in attendance:
Sebastian Massey
Garret Siegel
Michael Murno
Jenna Tait
Sunjit Chawla
Also in attendance: Cynthia Browning; Land Use Administrator & APC alternate; Nick Zaiac of the BCRC; David Hagelberg; Scott Hagelberg.
A motion was made by Garret Siegel to approve the minutes from the last APC meeting (June 25, 2026), seconded by Sunjit Chawla. Approved unanimously.
No Public Comments
New Business:
The Planning Commission was presented with a plat for a minor subdivision at 405 Old West Road. The owners, David & Nancy Hagelberg, wish to divide a 116 acres lot into a 9 acre lot with house and driveway and a 107 acre lot of woodlands. The woodland lot is not intended to be a buildable lot. Garret requested that the dimensions of the house should be included on the site plan to conform with Bylaw 3.2.3. Michael requested that bearings of the boundary lines be included for both of the lots that would result from the subdivision. There was discussion whether boundary locations including bearings are required for all plats for APC approval or just the new smaller plat which had been thoroughly surveyed. Bylaw 3.4.3c (Preliminary Plat Review) calls for locations and dimensions of all boundaries in area of the parcel. After some discussion it was agreed that the site plan was acceptable for the purpose of a minor subdivision.
A motion to approve the subdivision was made by Garret Siegel as long as the dimensions and full size of the existing three-bedroom house are noted in the final plat. The petitioner was advised to verify with the town clerk that metes and bounds of the forest lot parcel (2a) are not required for filing. Seconded by Sebastian Massey. The motion was approved.
School Merger Discussion:
Sebastian gave a recap of Vermont State Senator Seth Bongartz’s Town Hall meeting regarding the school merger discussion. The town has been placed in the Group 4 merger group which is centered around Bennington and other school districts to the South; however, it would be possible for the Arlington School District to choose to change merger groups if they judged it to be preferable. Sebastian noted that in his opinion the town would be better served to consider joining the Group 3 merger group which is centered around Manchester. The Planning Commission felt that this matter should be addressed with the Select Board. Sebastian asked Katie Dixon, the town administrator, to add the subject to the next Select Board meeting. It was agreed that Garret would write a letter to the SB in advance of this meeting noting the Planning Commission’s concerns and desire to be part of the process. Several members of the APC vowed to attend the Select Board meeting.
Arlington Town Plan Revision:
Nick Zaiac of the BCRC was again present to aid with the town’s revision of the Town Plan. He noted that he planned to schedule stakeholder meetings with the water company, fire department, EMS and highway departments. It was suggested that members of the APC should join in these meetings.
Nick presented the town plan survey for review and suggestions. This survey will be distributed widely in Arlington. It was suggested that it might be advantageous to have open community workshops first before sending out the survey, but the timeline for completion of the revision made this suggestion difficult. The town will have the chance to participate in the process once there is a draft revision ready to present to the town.
There was discussion of the best ways to get people to fill out the survey. A big emphasis was placed on distributing the survey during Norman’s Attic in September. Additionally, it was agreed that the members of the Planning Commission would send the survey to as many people as possible asking those recipients to further distribute the link to the survey. The survey would also be advertised in various publications.
There were questions about the formatting of the short and long survey. Changes were made to the wording of the question about septic systems in Arlington. Additionally, geothermal was added as a heating mode. There was discussion about whether there should be more questions about the school issue; however, it was decided that additional questions were not necessary as we do not wish to polarize the act of taking the survey. Sunjit asked if we could put the survey on a sandwich board in front of town hall, and it was noted that that will be done.
In discussing thenext meeting of the APC, it was noted that Town Hall will be closed during the week of October 19th through the 23rd. It was agreed that Garret would ask the Town Administrator if the meeting room at Town Hall is available on the 15th of October for our monthly meeting.
The next meeting of the APC will take place on August 27th at 7pm at Town Hall. The agenda and Zoom link to the meeting will be posted to the town website as usual for those who cannot attend in person.
A motion was made to adjourn the meeting at 9:09 pm by Michael Murno and was seconded by Garret Siegel.