WAITSFIELD SELECTBOARD
PUBLIC HEARING NOTICE
Proposed Town Plan
The Waitsfield Selectboard will hold a final public hearing on Monday, December 18, 2017, 7:00 P.M. at the Waitsfield Town Offices (4144 Main Street) to receive public comment regarding the proposed Waitsfield Town Plan. We invite you to attend if you have any input on the vision for our Town or the proposed revisions from the Planning Commission.
The majority of changes to the Town Plan are technical and grammatical in nature. Data and information related to the town, its residents, housing, and economy have been updated throughout. The Tables reflect current data from the Waitsfield Annual Reports, U.S. Census, or other sources. Large portions of the narrative sections have been deleted or reorganized to make the document more concise, accessible, and usable; it has also been reformatted. Some policies have been deleted or reworded to read as policies, or moved to the Task section if appropriate.
Substantive revisions were made to the Town Plan, as well. Several updates were included as a response to new statutory requirements such as flood resilience and Village Center designation status. Language was added to Chapters 5, 7, 8, and 10 to respond to the Quechee Lakes analysis in order to provide clearer standards for review at state and regional levels.
The proposed Waitsfield Town Plan includes all of the required elements set forth in the Act [§4382], important policy and task changes were made to the following specific chapters:
1. Chapter 4: Housing
*Includes six new tasks related to reducing the minimum lot size in Irasville Village and Village Residential districts, short term rentals, tiny houses, and the shortage in affordable housing opportunities.
2. Chapter 5: Economic Development
*Added language to: encourage diversification of agriculture, support the continuation of the Village Center Designation, and update the progress in the decentralized wastewater program.
3. Chapter 6: Education
4. Chapter 7: Facilities & Services
5. Chapter 8: Transportation
*Contains an additional 10 tasks to improve transportation system maintenance, safety, and allow for multi-modal transpiration systems.
6. Chapter 10: Cultural & Historic Resources
*Includes an enhanced list of Scenic Resources to better identify them.
7. Chapter 11: Natural Resources
*Developed 20 new policies to address flood resilience, stormwater management, and invasive/non-native species management.
8. Chapter 12: Land Use
*Includes the Village Center Designation map; policies to support residential hamlets, natural resources protection, and maintain the character of our various areas of town; and tasks have been added to address flood resilience, identify areas for infill development, diversify farming, and enhance our Villages as outlined in recent studies and reports.
9. Chapter 13: Implementation
*Includes high priority, short term Tasks in a consolidated table format.
Copies of the full text of the proposed Waitsfield Town Plan and accompanying maps are available for examination at the Waitsfield Town Offices during regular office hours or can be viewed online at: http://www.waitsfieldvt.us/. You may also send comments and suggestions to the Selectboard at 4144 Main St., Waitsfield, VT 05673 or email them to townadmin@gmavt.net.
Dated at Waitsfield, Vermont, November 30, 2017
Paul Hartshorn, Chair
Waitsfield Selectboard
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