The Zoning District
Editor’s Note: I asked Bill if he would write an article explaining the difference between the Town’s former Zoning Board of Adjustment (ZBA) and the new Development Review Board (DRB). He kindly agreed, and also offered to write a “fairly regular” article. If you have questions about zoning that you would like Bill to address, please send them to him at the Town Office or to me at the newsletter address. While he cannot answer questions about a specific property in the newsletter, he can answer questions about a general situation. His column is meant to be an educational forum and will not constitute an official zoning ruling.
Zoning
It is my observation that many people are confused about the zoning process and what the roles of the various boards and officers are, and it's easy to see why. This month, I will describe the purpose and function of each.
At the town level, there are three main entities involved in overseeing zoning: the Planning Commission, the Development Review Board (DRB), and the Zoning Administrator. These entities have specific zoning matters under their authority as defined by a fourth, and ultimately, superior, player, the State. It may not be widely known, but the State Legislature delegates powers to the towns, and towns are not permitted to assume any authority not specifically delegated by the legislature (more on that later).
The Planning Commission's duties include preparing a town plan, writing zoning bylaws, and other functions directly related to land use and other long-term planning for the town's needs. The Zoning Administrator (ZA) is the person responsible for the day-to-day oversight of the zoning bylaws. His responsibilities include review and disposition of zoning permits, enforcement of zoning bylaws, and assisting the public with zoning questions. The Development Review Board (DRB), as its name suggests, is charged with overseeing all issues concerning development that require a level of scrutiny greater than that allowed to the ZA. These include appeals of ZA decisions, conditional use approval, variances, subdivision review, and others.
As I mentioned previously, the State has a major involvement in local zoning. Many requirements of our zoning bylaws are specifically mandated by State statute. These include access to development, the 15-day waiting period after permit approval, enforcement procedures, the criteria for variances and many more. The State also has specific requirements for town plans, board procedures, permit recording - practically every move local officials make is predetermined by State statute.
There are also other, very important participants in the zoning process: you, the public. In future months, I will use this space to give explanations of other aspects of zoning, in the hope of shedding more light on this subject.
New Bylaws
On October 25th, Fletcher voters approved new zoning bylaws. The bylaws became effective as of that date. Copies are available at the Town Clerk's office and soon will be available online at the town web site which can be seen at http://www.bivio.com/fletchervt/files/Main.html. If you have any questions about the new bylaws, please contact me and I'll do my best to answer them.
Planning Commission
Now that the Fletcher zoning bylaws have been approved, we are turning our attention to updating the town plan. We welcome your participation in this effort and hope you will offer us your ideas and concerns. At this time we are forming an outline of each section of the plan, assuring that we include all the mandatory elements as required by the State's enabling legislation. The Planning Commission meets the first Thursday of each month and will devote a portion of our meeting to public comment.
We will be gathering information from various sources around town to help us make our decisions. If you would like to discuss the plan or any planning issues with one of our members privately, you are welcome to contact any Planning Commission member individually. We are: Randy Henninger, Peg Kinne, William O'Brien, Eastman Root, Suzanne Stritzler, and Cheryl Vreeland.