At the latest meeting of the Planning and Zoning Commission (PZC), old business finally got its day, and new business was on the commissioners' minds.
For months, the question of where the digital signs bought with American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) funds would wind up has lingered. If you remember our previous coverage, the signs were prohibited, so the PZC had to rewrite its regulations to allow them to be used by special permit. There was then the final formal application and public hearing, which happened at the November 2, 2023, meeting.
As anticipated, the request was for the signs to be placed at the Department of Public Works, the Senior Center, and the West Stafford Fire Department. There are two signs measuring 5 feet by 6 feet and one measuring 5 feet by 8 feet. The larger sign is slated to go to the West Stafford Fire Department. All are dimmable and required by statute to be dimmed at night. There was one letter supporting the project submitted before the meeting, but no one showed up to speak for or against the project. The board voted to approve the placement of the signs, finally bringing the saga of the signs to a close.
Next on the agenda was a state-mandated text amendment to current regulations. Some towns do not permit in-home daycare centers, and to address that, the state now requires that towns treat in-home daycares and group daycares the same as residential buildings. The PZC had to vote to tweak the regulations to meet the state mandate formally. The motion passed. Once that was done, the commission turned its attention toward the future.
PZC Chair Dave Palmberg said that during the commission's discussion about the town Plan of Conservation and Development (POCD), one of the topics that came up was the possibility of a lake zone overlay for the planning and zoning regulations. The main goal of the overlay district would be to reduce the number of requests for variances and appeals. Standardizing the regulations would also help make it fairer and more predictable for people in the area.
Additionally, new regulations could encourage low-impact development, erosion control, and create fertilizer requirements. In an effort to get input from the people who actually live on the lakes in town, the commission said it reached out to the organizations representing those lakes, including State Line Pond. Aaron Hoffman, President of the Staffordville Lake Association, was the only one in attendance.
The narrow lots on Staffordville Lake are often a source of zoning problems, as property owners seek to add on or otherwise modify their homes and encroach on their neighbors' property. In order to reduce the number of appeals, and more specifically, the number of appeals that can end up in court, the commission hopes to standardize things like setbacks from the road and side of the properties. Any variances in setback from the water have to go through the Inland Wetlands Commission, so they are handled separately.
"Most variances should not be approved," said Commissioner Richard Shuck. Variances are meant to help property owners address hardships created by a site. Quite often, however, variance requests are more about personal preferences or desires.
Palmberg suggested that PZC could make the regulations as strict as the Staffordville Lake Association wanted but that residents were the ones who would have to live with them, so their input was needed. Alternatively, he said the PZC could move on to one of the other many items they identified during the POCD process. The issue was left to Hoffman to take back to the association to discuss.
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