Public Hearing: Aug 3 re: “Green Woods Village”

The Planning Board will be holding a Public Hearing, August 3, for “Green Woods Village,” Jeremiah Parker’s housing development plan for the area he owns on the south end of the Green. Access is across from Newton Academy. The Board plans to inspect the site on foot at 7PM prior to holding the actual meeting at 7:30. Interested persons encouraged to attend.

By-Laws Info Meeting #3

Reminder for those concerned about the town’s future: Round 3 of the Draft By-Laws discussions will be held at the school on Monday, July 31, at 7PM. During the July 11 meeting we moved through section 3.12 of Article 3—Monday night will pick up at section 3.13.

So you can plan ahead, here is a listing of the remaining sections of Article 3, the sections of Article 4, & Articles through #7. The next meeting after this one is scheduled for August 15, the sections covered TBA (depends on Monday night’s progress). Copies of the Draft can be pickedup at the Town Clerk’s or downloaded from the town website.

• ARTICLE 3. GENERAL PROVISIONS
  • …
  • Section 3.13 Performance Standards
  • Section 3.14 Retail Sales
  • Section 3.15 Signs
  • Section 3.16 Storage of Flammable Liquids
  • Section 3.17 Stormwater Management and Control at Construction Sites
  • Section 3.18 Surface Water Protection
  • Section 3.19 Temporary Uses & Structures
  • Section 3.20 Wastewater Disposal

• ARTICLE 4. SPECIFIC USE STANDARDS
  • Section 4.01 Accessory Apartments
  • Section 4.02 Agricultural Housing
  • Section 4.03 Aircraft Landing Strips
  • Section 4.04 Campers
  • Section 4.05 Campground
  • Section 4.06 Day Care Facilities
  • Section 4.07 Extraction & Quarrying Operations
  • Section 4.08 Farm Structures
  • Section 4.09 Freestanding Dishes & Antennas
  • Section 4.10 Gasoline Stations
  • Section 4.11 Motor Vehicle Sales or Repair Facility
  • Section 4.12 Group Home
  • Section 4.13 Home Occupations & Home-Based Businesses
  • Section 4.14 Kennel
  • Section 4.15 Light Industry
  • Section 4.16 Marinas (Water Based)
  • Section 4.17 Mixed Uses
  • Section 4.18 Mobile Home Parks
  • Section 4.19 Solar & Wind Energy Facilities
  • Section 4.20 Telecommunications Facilities

• ARTICLE 5. CONDITIONAL USE REVIEW

• ARTICLE 6. PLANNED UNIT DEVELOPMENTS (PUDS)

• ARTICLE 7. ADMINISTRATION & ENFORCEMENT

Shoreham’s Emergency Management Committee

Shoreham has a new Emergency Management Committee, established in May when the Selectboard appointed Lois Curtiss and Joan Treadway as co-cordinators (SB Minutes, May 9). The Committee will focus its efforts on the safety and well-being of the community through local preparedness in the event of emergencies of any kind. The EMC falls under the domain of Vermont Emergency Management (VEM) through Addison County’s Local Emergency Planning Committee (LEPC). The Committee welcomes expressions of interest from other community members and is ready to hold informal presentations for any Shoreham group looking for more information about emergency preparedness and the scope of the Committee’s efforts. Visit the EMC’s webpage.

2006 Shoreham Zoning Bylaws Rewrite —Summary of What’s Changed

Reminder: 2nd info meeting tonight at 7. The location has been changed to the school gym.

Below is a short summary of what the proposed changes are for the bylaws:

• The last total rewrite of Town bylaws was 1987, revisions made in 1999 & 2004.
• Many changes were made to meet the requirements of the 2004 update of State statute. These changes include permitting small day care facilities, group homes, and home occupations as by right residential uses. A provision for an accessory apartment as a by right residential use was also included.
• The list of permitted and conditional uses was expanded in all districts. A provision was added to allow consideration of a use not specifically mentioned.
• Expanded Village districts (Village Commercial and Village Residential), and reduced setback, lot size, frontage and dimensional standards.
• In developed lakeshore areas the frontage and setback standards are reduced, and language was added to clarify treatment of leased lots to be similar to lots owned outright.
• Changed treatment of Agricultural district from a roadside strip zone of 2 acre minimum lots with an interior zone of 25 acre minimum lot size, to one district with a 2 acre minimum lot and a requirement for a set aside of a percentage of the lot not developable. PUD review is required in most cases for subdivision in the Ag district.
• Planned Unit Developments (PUD) are allowed by the new statute which combined the PUD with the former Planned Residential Development. The bylaws allow the Planning Commission to consider a development plan which meets the standards of the bylaws, and to benefit the applicant, may include flexibility in modifying area and dimensional requirements, including lot size, setbacks, frontage, etc.
• There are no subdivision regulations, Shoreham and Bristol are the only towns in the county without these regulations. As subdivision is regulated via a zoning permit, which expires in a year, a mechanism has been added so that when a subdivision plat or deed description is filed in the land records, the subdivision remains in effect.
• Treatment of preexisting uses and structures has been consolidated as required by statute, but remains similar in effect.
• Added provision for waiver of setback requirements, up to 30% reduction, with conditional use review.
• Added provisions for farm labor housing to allow more than one residence on a farm lot.
• Expanded home occupations to include the more intensive ‘Home-based business’.
• Incorporates the phosphorus reduction elements currently adopted as an interim amendment.

[P.Kivlin, Zoning Administrator]

The Town Website Has A New Address: www.ShorehamVT.org

Short and simple! Any previously bookmarked pages should be removed from your browser’s favorites/bookmarks and re-bookmarked. You’ll have a bit of time to get this done as the old address (URL) will redirect to the new site for a month or so. The website has a few minor design changes and some navigation changes—if you come across things that don’t work as you suspect they should, please drop an email to the webmaster.

Gazebo Plans Temporarily On Hold

Shoreham’s Gazebo Committe has finalized plans to move the structure up the hill to a spot between the Masonic Hall and the Congregational Church. The Selectboard has reviewed the site, the plans, the finances, given the ‘go ahead,’ and then… the rains came.

Work was expected to get underway the first week of June, but… Now, in addition to waiting for things to dry out, there may be some lag-time while contractors who are volunteering their equipment and labor catch up on their own work which has also been held up by the rain. The project will still happen, just a bit behind schedule. Hopes are to have it wrapped up by Festival day, September 2.

Additional details can be found in the Selectboard Minutes of April 10 and 24, 2006, in the Downloadable Documents section of the town website.