Dear Editor,
The Chester Selectboard finds itself in an unfortunate state of disagreement with regard to moving the work of our planning commission forward. During the Sept. 18 and Oct. 16 public hearing to adopt proposed changes to the zoning bylaws, the selectboard heard objections from a few households regarding implementing a maximum-density development model for the rural zoning districts. Following lengthy discussions, on Nov. 6, the board ultimately directed the planning commission to revise the bylaws to revert to the existing three- and five-acre minimum lot sizes there, and bring the rest of the proposed changes back for approval as written. This point is made clear within the approved minutes from that meeting, which read:
“Lee [Gustafson, selectboard vice chair] said it sounded like they had given the planning commission what they were looking for to make the next revision. Hugh [Quinn, planning commission chair] summarized he was hearing the consensus direction from the selectboard was not to pursue density-based zoning, and revert to five-acre zoning in the green and three-acre zoning in the yellow, and change the name for the green zone to something they all agreed on, and leave the rest of the proposed changes. The members agreed with Hugh’s summation, and said they appreciated all their work.”
During the next public hearing, conducted on Dec. 18, members of two households voiced objections to the building setbacks in the proposed bylaws. Apparently some selectboard members misremembered what they’d agreed to at the November hearing, and either sided with the two households’ objections over these relatively minor details, or were undecided as to how to vote between moving the revised bylaws forward or rejecting them yet again.
While it’s never easy to tell members of the public that their preferences regarding a particular issue are outweighed by other factors, it is the role of community leaders to make those hard choices. The Chester Planning Commission worked on the bylaw revisions for many months, as directed by the selectboard, and with the support and guidance of experts in the field of municipal planning. The planning commission held many public meetings, and conducted multiple public hearings, all designed to elicit and incorporate the public’s feedback to their proposed bylaw revisions. To further delay adoption of this work is an affront to each of those who participated in that process, and is a disservice to our town. I hope our selectboard can come together and move to adopt the revised rural zoning bylaws on Jan. 2, and allow our planning commission to move on to begin work on issues impacting the quality of life of Chester’s residents and the sustained success of our business community.
Sincerely,
Tim Roper, Selectboard Member
Chester, Vt.