BRATTLEBORO — The Planning Commission met Dec. 10 and drafted regulations regarding subdivision of open space in conservation as part of a rewriting of the town's subdivision regulations.
The commission began the discussion at its Nov. 26 meeting, where its members discussed changes in bylaws for subdivision of developable land and application procedures.
“Goals for future subdivision regulation include protecting the environment,” minutes for the Nov. 26 meeting stated. “Built into existing regulations are requirements assuming a greater growth rate (e.g., additional infrastructure such as schools); these could be eliminated or revised to a more realistic model.”
Additionally, much of the previous meeting's discussion focused on the amount of say that the town zoning administrator would have in determining the completeness of a subdivision application.
Although Planning Commission staff member Rod Francis said state regulations would have to be reviewed, the commission leaned toward giving the zoning administrator (currently Brian Bannon) more discretion than is given now.
Using an older open space regulation document from the Massachusetts Metropolitan Area Planning Commission, Planning Commission staff members Sue Fillion and Francis began the discussion by presenting to the rest of the commission an overview of ways and methods of conserving open space.
Fillion explained that an individual can retain the open space, the open space can be bought in to (as with a homeowners' association), or a land trust or municipality can assume responsibility for the open space.
Once the open space has been set aside for conservation and responsibility has been assumed, other questions emerge.
Fillion continued by laying out the main questions: “How much should there be? Which parts of the open space remain as undeveloped? Who will manage the land? What should be allowed to be used on the open space?”
Much of the following discussion honed in on requirements for the quality of the open space overall.
Since conservation subdivision generally results in significantly more open space than conventional subdivision, the open space should be usable for recreational and developmental purposes.
Steep inclines or stormwater runoff areas, for example, are not considered usable or developable, Fillion said.
“I would consider it an evolution from clustering subdivisions,” Francis said, in reference to the less-regulated method of clustering land plots for development in a specific area, such as around a cul-de-sac.
“Most subdivisions happen on the edge of a settlement and are eating into farmland very frequently, and it's a way of responding to that landscape more seriously,” he said.
Reminding the planning commission of the JAM Golf subdivision case, a 2009 Vermont Environmental Court case that highlighted the importance of specific language in municipality's subdivision regulations, Fillion and Francis spearheaded discussion of the language to be used in the draft.
Planning Commission Chair James Valente reminded the rest of the commission that the draft needs to be only as detailed as required by those following it.
“If we write a good ordinance that doesn't reach the Vermont Supreme Court, it doesn't have to perfect,” he said. “In the off chance that the ordinances do reach the Supreme Court and they say, 'It stinks,' then we can try and do it a different way.”
The commission members decided to steer away from using performance-based developing for the time being, which often results in vague regulations, followed by only a few site-specific examples of each regulation.
In order to ensure that regulations are followed, the commission aimed to create a draft that was as specific as possible to its expectations when reviewing applications for subdivision and development.
“Do you think the draft has all the issues identified?” Francis asked the commission members at the end of the nearly-two-hour-long meeting.
“I'd say it has most of the general issues identified which we're working with. I'd just say it needs some fleshing out,” Valente replied.