Welcome to Planner's Corner, a monthly update on the
activities of the Williston Planning and Zoning Department.
A residential project with more than 500 units is
proposed. Six new major streets and 21 cul-de-sacs will be built on both sides
of Mountain View and Old Stage Roads. While some of the dwellings will be
single-family, many will be condominiums, and some will be rental units. All
the open lands in the southwest corner of Mountain View Road will either be
developed or planted with tall screening landscaping, obscuring the view of
Camel’s Hump from Mountain View Road. A public “concept review” hearing will be
held.
This is not a fictional project, but it is a proposal
from Williston’s past- 1983 to be exact. You can see the plans and read more
about it on the “Planning History” page of Williston’s Planning
Department Web Page. At that meeting
in 1983, residents bemoaned the additional cars, traffic, children, and dogs
the development would bring to town. One resident referred to condominium
projects as “shanty towns,” and a meeting attendee yelled out that “we ought to
go and take up a collection and buy the whole damn farm and that would be the
end of it.”
While some things have changed in Williston since
1983, many haven’t. A good portion of the land on that old concept plan remains
undeveloped, and it also remains in the Town’s Residential Zoning District,
zoned for 3-5 dwelling units per acre, served by sewer and water, and planned
for residential growth that looks much like Southridge, Old Stage Estates, and
other nearby neighborhoods. Our staff still hears concerns about traffic and
children, and while nobody has raised the specter of “shanty towns” of late,
we’ve certainly heard people say that “those people’s kids will play on our
playground,” or that a project might bring “apartment people” to town. One
citizen once asked if the residents of a new project would be “renters, or
would they be contributing to the community?”
As staff and volunteer board members, it can be tough
to work through those types of meetings. Zoning has a checkered history in the
United States and was often used to exclude “those people-” people of a
“different” race, class, or ethnicity- from communities, even here in Vermont.
Comments like some of those above are a significant distraction to the work of
assessing a project’s compliance with the Town’s Zoning.
As in 1983, Williston may be entering a time where
concerns about new development and the people who come with it are prominent. I
would encourage Williston residents and all those who are concerned about
development to have a look at the town’s Official Zoning Map. The area we are
talking about is the Residential Zoning District, shown in yellow. It allows
3-5 dwelling units per acre. Those units can be single units, duplexes, or
bigger: triplexes and apartment flats- the only limitations are the height,
setbacks and the base lot area. Affordable housing and connectivity to town
roads and neighborhoods are encouraged, if not outright required. This is the
set of rules the Town has developed, in accordance with its Comprehensive Plan.
As I have in past posts, I urge all Williston citizens to read these
documents.
Finally, while nobody took up a collection that night
in 1983, the town does have an Environmental Reserve Fund that all taxpayers
pay into, which is used to preserve open lands in Williston. Soon, Planning Staff
hopes to analyze the Fund and the remaining open lands in Town to provide more
information about how to fund that “collection” that was suggested in 1983.
Here’s
a summary of what’s coming up for our boards during the month of January.
Agendas, meeting minutes, and supporting documents for the items discussed
below can be found on the “Public Records and Documents” page of Williston’s
website.
Development
Review Board
WHEN: 7:00 PM on January 28
WHERE: Town Hall meeting Room, 7900 Williston Road
WHAT: DP 20-18, DP 20-19
Historical
and Architectural Advisory Committee
(HAAC)
WHEN: 5:30 PM on January 7
WHERE: Planning & Zoning Office, 7878 Williston
Road
WHAT: DP 20-19/ HP 20-01 Review; Revise Chapter 42 of
Williston Unified Development Review Bylaw
Williston Conservation Commission (WCC)
WHEN: 7:00 AM on January 8
WHERE: Planning & Zoning Office, 7878 Williston
Road
WHAT: UVM Senior Capstone Project: Exploring the
Feasibility of Rent-a-Goat Services for Invasives Control; Desired Trails
Prioritization
Planning Commission (PC)
WHEN: January 7
WHERE: Police Station Meeting Room, 7928 Williston
Road
WHAT: Energy
Plan Review Part 4; Capital Budget
Mobility Projects Group
WHEN: January 9, 6:00 PM
WHERE: Police Station Meeting Room, 7928 Williston
Road
WHAT: Projects
Group Kickoff Meeting
