Braintree Zoning
Needs Repairs

Recently, there has been some talk of voting down zoning in Braintree; a petition is being circulated to that effect. The undersigned members of the town Planning Commission and Development Review Board agree that our current zoning regulations are not serving the needs of our citizens, and certainly are in need of improvement. We aim to do just that.

Over the past few years, members of the Development Review Board (DRB) have been asked to review projects which appeared to be simple, reasonable permit applications, but which have had to be altered or denied based on regulations that were, at times, both arbitrary and difficult for many people to understand. This has been very frustrating to both the residents and the board.

Last winter, the Selectboard approved interim amendments to the regulations that had been developed by the Planning Commission. These changes have helped to a degree by providing needed flexibility for unusual properties (non-conforming lots). Several applications have been approved by the DRB with the help of these recent changes.

However, the Planning Commission feels that a better solution would be to completely rewrite our regulations to ensure that we maintain the unique rural character of our town, and to ensure that we retain control of our own land-use procedures, rather than cede that responsibility to the state or other authority.

To this end, with the assistance of the Two Rivers-Ottauquechee Regional Commission, we have applied for and received a state grant that will allow us to proceed with a complete overhaul of our town zoning bylaws. As this process evolves, we will be seeking input from town residents at every step in the process. It is our hope that interested persons will attend our monthly meetings (7 p.m., second Thursday each month, at the town office), and will also provide input at the public hearings we will begin conducting later this year.

At the conclusion of this 12- to 18-month overhaul process, it is our expectation that we will have created a set of regulations that will provide our townspeople with a straightforward and accessible set of regulations whose flexibility will allow residents to use their properties to their advantage, while maintaining the rural character of the town we all value so highly.

Bob Moyer

Nancy Gray

Sharon Liebert

Joan Richmond-Hall

Malcolm Fitzpatrick

Braintree

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