BELLOWS FALLS, Vt. – At a Rockingham town public meeting in early September, there was an in-depth discussion revolving around the formal adoption of the revised Rockingham Town Plan. During the meeting, the Rockingham Selectboard listened to various concerns ranging from commercial development, to preserving specific residential areas in Bellows Falls, to revising service language about the Saxtons River Rescue.
Multiple selectboard members raised concern about the Town Plan providing adequate protection for the residential neighborhood, as currently, there is just one local business along Rockingham Street – a dental office – despite its convenient location and easy access to the highway and downtown.
However, it was also duly noted by multiple parties that the newest revisions to the revised Town Plan are not substantial enough changes to require another public hearing. Consequently, selectboard member and cowriter of the Town Plan revision John Dunbar pushed for a formal adoption of the newly written revision.
Rockingham development director Gary Fox was also in favor of a formal adoption, stating that the current Town Plan was technically “expired,” meaning there was no official Town Plan currently in place, which would affect upcoming developmental reviews including Act 250, the state land-use requirements. He also cited a likely upcoming Act 250 hearing revolving around a restoration project at the Rockingham Industrial Park.
“The most significant change in our current plan is the Area Wide Plan, which incorporates numerous development and land-use updates for the island area and under the bridge,” town manager Scott Pickup said in a recent interview.
“Once the revised town plan is completely adopted – it does go to the regional planning commission for one more review – we will put together a timeline for the ‘zoning bylaws update,’ and then align the land use with the plan.”
The chairwoman of the Rockingham Planning Commission and cowriter of the newly written revision, Deborah Wright, agreed that any changes that may have come up during the last selectboard hearings were not substantial. She also stated that the current rewrite is actually the first in-depth revision of the plan in 26 years. There had been some reviews in 2016, but no significant changes were made.
“Town Plans are reviewed and adopted on a rolling five-year window,” Pickup added. “This particular cycle has produced some new information, so the review has been very thorough.”
Once the revised plan is officially adopted by the Rockingham Selectboard, the plan goes to the Windham Regional Commission for final review and adaptation.
In a separate matter, the selectboard also added specific language to recognize the Saxtons River Fire and Rescue Department as serving both the town, as well as the Golden Cross Ambulance service. Other current selectboard updates have included some town map updates, and some language development for mixed-use development.