TOWN OF ARLINGTON
PLANNING COMMISSION MEETING
Minutes of Meeting – Thursday March 27, 2025
Members Present: Garret Siegel, Jon Murray, Jenna Leigh Tait, Mary Ann Holmes, Joan Nash (LUA), Michael Murno
Other Attendees: Nick Zaiac (Town Administrator)
Public Comments: None
Attendance Formats: Town Hall, Zoom Video Conferencing or Phone
The meeting was called to order at 7:02 pm by Chairman Garret Siegel.
Approval of Minutes:
The previous meeting minutes were approved contingent on adding the Cottage Court Development diagrams discussed and the addition of the authors name and assertion.
Warned items – none.
Public comments – None
New Business – Chairman Siegel welcomed two new members to the APC: Jenna Leigh Tait and Mary Ann Holmes and thanked them for their willingness to participate. Tom Williams and Elliott Nachwalter, who have retired, were also recognized for their long -standing membership and participation in the Arlington Planning Commission.
Nick Zaiac has accepted a position with the BCRC and will begin working there in late April. Nick will likely continue to assist the APC with composing Bylaw revisions in his new position as Regional Planner.
Regarding the ethics training memo that Commission members received from Janet Berry, everyone involved in municipal government activities must take an ethics training course. The course would take about 45 minutes to complete, followed by a five-minute quiz. The deadline for completing the training is September.
For the benefit of the new members, Garret explained what we do as the Arlington Planning Commission as follows:
· Revisions to the Bylaws every five years, and the Town Plan every eight years
· Review site plans for conformance with the Bylaws
· Long term planning
· Review applications for permits, simplify the permit process where possible, discuss issues regarding compliance, such as housing, and regulations.
· Short-term rental issues
Garret discussed the formation of a subcommittee at our last meeting to review the current Bylaw to identify obvious revisions and enhancements that need to be made. That subcommittee consists of Garret Siegel, Jon Murray, and Sebastian Massey.
We discussed the potential of issuing a welcome letter to all newcomers to the town. The letter could potentially identify town resources, schools, houses of worship, recreational facilities, and introduction to the town website.
An Act 250 Permit has been filed by the local restaurant Bronwyn. The summary of the filing from the State of Vermont Land Use Review Board notes that the stamped concrete patio at the property partially encroaches on the wetland buffer and was installed without proper permitting. The Agency of Natural Resources has okayed a wetland impact mitigation plan for the property. The Planning Commission has previously approved a permit for this property contingent on ANR acceptance of their mitigation plan and on Act 250 approval.
Garret noted that Joan, Nick and he had received a letter from Samantha Page, a Regional Planner at the BCRC, informing the town that the BCRC had secured state funding if Arlington would like to file for a designated Neighborhood Development Area (NDA) in the Town of Arlington. The BCRC has performed a review of our bylaws and noted that certain updates to them would be necessary to complete the town’s application. Nick pointed out that legislation is being considered that would exempt Designated Neighborhood Development Areas from Act 250 Permitting. APC was open to a possible application. To do so, a bylaw update starting in early summer would be necessary with draft approval in August and completion in September.
There is a bill through the house (H479) that would give municipalities the right to impose a 1% Action Tax on Short Term Rentals (STR’s).
It was noted that Municipal Repeal Reform is being discussed, which would eliminate non-abutting landowner’s rights to appeal and register complaints against a development project, unless they can prove significant harm would be done to them.
Motion to Adjourn by Jonathan Murray, seconded by Michael Murno, motion carried.
The meeting adjourned 8:28 pm. Next meeting will be on April 24, 2025, at 7:00 pm
Respectfully submitted: Michael J. Murno
Land Use Administrator’s Report for APC
Date range: 2/25/25 – 03/25/25
Permits issued:
2025-02-20 13-01-15.000 R Cello, Paul 972 Butternut Gutter 3403
New Residence
2025-02-18 20-1-06.000 R Moscarello, Brew 4022 VT Route 313W 3838
Customary Home Biz
2025-02-18 20-1-06.000 R Moscarello, Brew 4022 VT Route 313W 3839
Sign for Home Biz
2025-03-20 01-71-11.000 VR Arlington Village Center 3708 VT Route 7A 3437 Connecter addition
2025-03-25 02-03-05.000R LaCroix, Chris 3402 VT Route 313W 3440 Subdivision
Pending Permits:
Date Parcel ID Zone Last Name, First Name Address Permit# Type
2024-06-11 21-02-21.000 VR Wirrki, Olavi 102 Ice Pond Rd Boundary Line Adj
2024-10-24 21-02-21.000 VR J C Waitt LLC 21 Ice Pond Rd Boundary Line Adj
2025-02-18 04-01-20.000 R/ FR Red Mountain II LLC Subdivisions
2025-02-20 210-2-21.000VR Furgeson, Joe 833 E. Arlington Rd Addition
2025-03-24 13-1-14.001 R Murphy, Kevin 908 Butternut Gutter Minor subdivision
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. 2/25/25 Surveyor revising survey map
Permits Pending ZBA:
2024-06-13 01-71-11.000 VR Arlington Village Center 3708 VT Route 7A 3427 Change of Use
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.
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.
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.
Certificate of Compliance issued: None
Zoning Compliance Letters Issued: None
Date Parcel ID Zone Last Name, First Name Address Inquiries
2025-02-26 07-01-14.000 R Lampron, Michael 4903 River Rd Setbacks, etc.
General Inquiries:
2025-02-27 06-3-26.000 R Skidmore, Dawson 5124 VT Route 7A More signs ok?
2025-03-04 06-03-32.000R Gallett, Valerie 4320 VT Route 7A RE Agent inquiry
2025-03-06 05-01-27.000 R Callahan, Robert & Julie 0 Red Mountain Rd Prospective buyer
2025-03-06 03-01-36.000 R Pfeifer, Joesph 135 Red Ocher Rd How to access US forest
2025-03-06 13-02-03.000R Kellen, Tyler 417 Maple Hill Rd Septic system planning
2025-03-11 01-01-29.000 R Tomintoul Farms Inc (James McCabe) 5610 VT 313 W Business use ok?
2025-03-13 06-3-40.000 R Shea Funeral Homes 4512 VT Route 7A RE Agent inquiry
2025-03-18 50-2-16.000 R Gardner Debbie 102 Glebe Lot Road Red Mtn II Subdiv road
2025-03-20 17-2-23.000 VR Gunther Jack 265 East Arlington Rd Needs copy septic map
Complaints:
Date Parcel ID Zone Last Name, First Name Address Complaint
2025-03-04 01-01-10.000 R Garrett John & Mary 5827 VT Route 313W Neighbor re garage
2025-03-13 02-02-29.000R Hildick-Smith, Peter 362 Green River Rd Neighbor owes money
2025-03-18 05-02-16.000 R Gardner, Debbie 102 Glebe Lot Road Road Debate
2025-03-25 17-2-21 VR VR Mendenhall, John 363 East Arlington Rd Neighbors junkyard
Exempt Land Use Registrations: None