Exit 4 Zoning:

How Does It Work?

By M. D. Drysdale

The overall concept for Exit 4 is to permit a mix of uses that will provide jobs, services, and housing, while requiring adherence to a host of environmental regulations, with particular attention to the viewshed.

Here are the formal "purposes" of the Northwest quadrant zone, which are typical:

To encourage a limited mix of land uses which are residential and commercial in nature where new development will employ residents within the region in well-paying jobs which do not detract from the vitality of Randolph’s traditional downtown and village centers;

To protect natural features, including surface waters;

To maintain and enhance traffic safety and efficiency on Vt. Route 66 and access to I-89;

To preserve scenic views of open fields and hills that have prominent visibility from I-89 and Route 66;

To preserve a portion of the agricultural land through limitations on placement and coverage.

The uses proposed for that zone include: residences, multi-family dwelling units, residential care facility, residential community development, outdoor recreation, cultural facility, accessory day care facility, offices, research laboratory and facility, accessory restaurant, and light manufacturing.

The uses are similar in the other three zones. All, for instance, include office projects and outdoor recreation, though only two of the four include multi-family residences. Two (southeast and southwest) include a possible hotel or motel; light manufacturing would be permitted in all but the southeast quadrant.

In order to develop those uses at Exit 4, however, a builder must satisfy a thicket of regulations and may be asked to produce expert studies on such things as visual impact and traffic patterns.

Parts of the proposed ordinance employ both the carrot and the stick to coax developers to build in certain places and not in others. Developments are restricted to 8% building coverage on their lots, but that coverage could double if they do not build on prime agricultural soils. There is also a bonus if buildings are clustered on a lot, leaving more open space.

Other restrictions refer to altitude, landscaping, stormwater management, screening, access, lighting, and outdoor storage. On top of that, the development must meet about 20 design criteria, as the entire area is declared a "design control district."

Commission Vice-Chair Julie Iffland noted that the parcels within the Exit 4 districts are generally large, "making it more possible to create bigger mixed-use planned development than most other exits can offer."

Landowners within the zone, including Jesse "Sam" Sammis and ClearSource, Inc., have been involved in the process all along, Iffland said, "and their input recently resulted in changes that we think both accomplishes our goals and their concerns."