Windham Hearing Addresses Zoning and Land Proposal

Zoning was the subject of a public hearing in Windham last week, where a new law on land uses has been proposed.

WINDHAM - The meeting room was packed but only a few perspectives were offered when a public hearing about a proposed zoning law in Windham took place last week.

Town council members hosted the citizens’ session on April 30, a possible final step before voting on whether to adopt the legislation, or not.

That decision could be rendered as soon as this month, according to town supervisor Thomas Hoyt, interviewed after the gathering.

Public hearings on some issues have been known to continue for multiple hours and generate deeply emotional responses from residents.

This one, after three years of getting to this point, was relatively quiet and lasted only thirty minutes, pleasing many but not all attendees.

Council members recessed but did not close the hearing, setting the stage for modifications to be made based on thoughts shared about the draft document which has been posted for viewing on the town website.

“The comments were well received by the board,” Hoyt said. “The majority of comments made sense and will get looked at,” prior to presenting a finalized document for a vote.

While tweaks could be made, “there were no showstoppers,” Hoyt said, noting a special commission of local residents did what he called, “a fantastic job,” writing the regulations to fit the community.

“Some people were in favor of zoning. Some people were opposed. This is being considered because it was seen as a priority in the updated Comprehensive Plan,” Hoyt emphasized,

A group of local residents also performed that rewrite which was subject to public hearings, being accepted with virtually no resistance.

Support for the zoning plan was voiced by local architect Liz Saunier while opposition was conveyed by two former candidates for town supervisor, Connor Exum and Nick Bove.

“Thank you for creating a zoning law because it makes my job so much easier when there are regulations to refer to,” Saunier said.

Saunier shared a list of “recommendations and requested clarifications” based on research she had done on the draft document and earlier suggestions offered, such as a section related to Use Regulations.

“The following uses should be permitted by right (P) in the Business District rather than by Special Use Permit (SP): Farm Stand, Agribusiness, Artisan Manufacturing, Automobile Repair Shop, Automobile Sales, Car Wash, Commercial Event Venue, Commercial Recreation, Day Care Center, Farmers Market, Personal Service Establishment, Retail Sales and Theaters,” Saunier stated.

“All of these uses would have symbiotic benefits for both the business itself and the business district as a whole by being located centrally among other businesses with walk-in foot traffic, “Saunier stated.

And referring to Area Regulations, Saunier stated, “the Residential Density has been adjusted to reduce some of the concerns in my initial

statement.

“However, a new concern was brought to my attention related to Use

Regulations - no more than two dwelling units may be built on a [Rural Residential] parcel regardless of the parcel size. 

“So even though the density per acre was increased, the maximum density in the [Rural Residential] zone was not, “Saunier wrote

Saunier, saying she had been advised “that a parcel could be reclassified

in the event that it meets the requirements for a higher density zone,” added, “I was not able to find reclassification procedures in the zoning and would like to know more about this process for future projects.”

Five major districts are etched into the zoning map including Rural Residential, Planned Residential, Hamlet, Business and Resort.

There are also specific districts for Ridgeline Protection Overlay, Protected Lands, Historic areas and municipal Sewer and Water.

Exum used the occasion to announce he would again be running for town supervisor, having run last November, falling short against Hoyt.

A three-minute limit on comments was established by the town council and announced by Hoyt at the start of the hearing.

“I am deeply, deeply opposed to zoning on multiple levels. This [plan] would zone out many of our longtime residents and their children,” Exum claimed.

Exum, in a followup written comment, stated, ‘I’m running again because I see no sign that our present Town Supervisor has the vision or the political will to address the needs of this community. 

“We, as a community, are facing an affordability crisis that will only be accelerated by the passage of a Zoning Proposal designed to benefit the well-positioned few and not the many,” Exum stated.

“I’m proposing a decentralized distributed method of controlling land uses in the parts of the communities that wish to see this, while leaving those that don’t free to build and grow as necessary,” Exum stated.

“A model where streets and neighborhoods can formulate rules and regulations that best suit their own needs. This may seem radical, but in reality, it has been achieved already and at the scale of a city– Houston, [Texas],” Exum stated.

“What Mr. Hoyt and the Town Board are attempting to do is no different than what [the Department of Environmental Protection] or [the Department of Environmental Conservation] [have] been doing for decades, creating regulations that benefit an outside group at our community’s expense,” Exum stated.

Bove, noting he ran against Hoyt in 2019, also falling short, objected to the time limit for comments, as well as the Zoning Districts map drawn by the commission with an outside consultant, paid through a State grant.

“Three minutes is not fair for such a huge, huge thing,” said Bove who is a well-established business owner in Windham.

“It feels like the [Zoning Districts map] is being used as tool against people [Hoyt] does not agree with, just like he did with [Exum] when he was giving an explanation of why he doesn’t like the plan,” Bove said.

Hoyt had cut off Exum before he was finished commenting. Bove, referring to widescale change at the Windham Mountain Club ski center, called the zoning plan “absurd” as it relates to the Business District.

“We are at a time when the mountain is chasing what the mountain is chasing. Growing restrictions is restricting growth,” Bove said.

Hoyt, in a post-hearing interview, said business districts were determined by existing availability or non-availability of municipal sewer and water.

Denise Meehan, a longtime resident, thanked the zoning commission for their work, saying, “my concern regarding zoning is the enforcement.

“I am hoping that the supervisor and the town board see the need for a separate enforcement person for enforcing zoning,” Meehan said.

In a post-hearing interview, Helen Budrock, the special consultant for the project, said a new position would be created, in addition to the existing code enforcement officer. There will also be a Zoning Board of Appeals.