Walking tour, open house seek input on new zoning regs

September 27, 2023 | By Lisa Scagliotti

In an effort to both spread the word and ask for feedback on revisions to local zoning regulations, the Waterbury Planning Commission will host an open house starting with a walking tour on Thursday, Oct. 5. 

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Image courtesy of the Waterbury Planning Department. (Click to enlarge)

Starting at the municipal offices at 5 p.m., the tour and meeting are scheduled to run through 7:30. The unique event signals that the finish line is in sight for at least part of the long-awaited updated zoning regulations for the town. 

Since July, the Planning Commission along with Planning Director Neal Leitner have stepped up their regular meetings, devoting significant time to revising the zoning bylaw for the area of the town bordered by Interstate 89 to the north and the Winooski River to the south – essentially the downtown. 

The last time the town’s zoning regulations were updated was 2016, Leitner said. A major rewrite hasn’t happened since the 1990s.

In 2018, the Planning Commission completed the most recent town plan and then turned its attention to updating the zoning regulations that would implement the goals of that plan.  

For a myriad of reasons – commission turnover, changes in approaches, and the COVID-19 pandemic being key factors – the process has languished. Early on, the commission sought to overhaul the entire bylaw at once. A 2017 community survey asked the public for input on some 30 questions. Momentum began to build in 2019 but the pandemic threw that off track. 

Along the way, development pressures became more pressing for planning and zoning staff and appointed volunteers to address. In 2021, the Planning Commission recommended and the Select Board approved implementing interim zoning for a core section of the downtown business district. The temporary rules apply to the area along the Main Street corridor between Stowe Street and the State Office Complex. The goal was to put in place modern elements into the regulations to address proposals developers were bringing in for permitting such as a brewery on Stowe Street that had no frame of reference in the existing bylaw. The interim measure had a two-year timeline with the option to renew it for one year. At the end of April this year, the Select Board approved keeping the measure in place until the end of April 2024. 

For the past two years, the Planning Commission has narrowed its focus to work on rewriting the portion of the zoning bylaw that just applies to the downtown corridor as the first phase of the larger project. Late last year, the town applied for and in January was awarded a $25,000 state grant to assist with this process. 

The Oct. 5 walking tour and open house are a direct result of that grant and its mission to assist municipalities around Vermont with “bylaw modernization.” The state Legislature created the grants to help local planners bring their zoning guidelines up to date with a focus now on incorporating measures in the revised codes that will encourage the creation of more housing to address the statewide housing crunch. 

"These grants provide a means for municipalities to modernize bylaws that can enhance their production of affordable homes in development-ready places,” said Josh Hanford, commissioner of the state Department of Housing and Community Development, in announcing the first 15 grants totalling $264,000 awarded earlier this year. “It is a way for Vermont’s communities to confront the State’s housing crisis head-on and help communities become more equitable, environmentally resilient, and economically strong.”

During the legislative session earlier this year, lawmakers passed S.100, the Housing Opportunities Made for Everyone Act that addresses statewide land-use standards to encourage housing development in town centers. State officials say they are especially hoping to see communities update their regulations to encourage more affordable housing for low- and middle-income Vermonters in pedestrian-friendly neighborhoods. 

The grant program and new state statute are well-timed for Waterbury. Even before housing became a top statewide issue, the town’s 2018 municipal plan called for development of 90-120 new housing units with “expansion and infill of the village growth centers, allowing higher density residential and mixed uses that include housing.”

Before his retirement in March, former Town Planning Director Steve Lotspeich filed an application for the state grants. Once it was approved, the town hired the consulting firm SE Group from Burlington to assist with the first phase of the bylaw rewrite. The firm also has worked with town planning and recreation officials on the park study of Hope Davey Park and the Ice Center recreation area. 

Tasked with helping engage community members regarding the updated zoning, the SE Group has created a website with information pertaining to the Waterbury’s Unified Development Bylaw – Phase #1 project. It includes an interactive map to demonstrate proposed revisions. The Oct. 5 meeting will include a presentation on the draft in progress highlighting the changes. Leitner said the aim of the walking tour at the start of the Oct. 5 open house will be to point out specific areas as examples that can be part of the discussion. 

Planners describe the draft update as being organized in two parts, one being the zoning districts designated as Neighborhood, Downtown, and Mixed Use development. The Oct. 5 open house will focus mainly on those areas.

The other section addresses the Commercial-Industrial, Campus, Conservation, and Residential-1 districts. A separate public presentation will be held to discuss those areas, likely in December. 

The draft revised zoning bylaw is not finalized yet, Leitner explained, in order to hear from the public and potentially incorporate more suggestions. 

Once these public informational meetings are completed, Leitner said, the Planning Commission will finalize its draft updated regulations and hold its required public hearings in early 2024. Because the measure is an ordinance, the Select Board must review and adopt it. That step is anticipated by April 2024, before the interim zoning regulations for the downtown core are set to expire. 

Following the adoption of the Phase 1 regulations, the Planning Commission will begin a similar – and hopefully shorter – process to update the zoning bylaw as it pertains to the rest of the town north of Interstate 89.

For the past several months, Planning Commission meetings have seen little attendance from members of the public as planners have worked on the new draft regs section by section. Leitner acknowledged that zoning can be abstract and difficult to envision the impacts of the rules. Nonetheless, the commission would like to hear from community members. Hopefully the walking tour, presentation and website will give people enough information to participate in a discussion where no prior knowledge of the details is needed, he said. To anyone who may be interested, Leitner added, “Just show up.”

Links to more information 

Background on this process is on the Planning and Zoning page on the town website. Minutes from Planning Commission meetings are posted on the commission’s page.

Find more information about the zoning bylaw update on the new website created for the project here or using the QR code in the project poster on this page.