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TOPIC OF THE MONTH: ROUTE 7 CORRIDOR
The Planning Commission
is currently reviewing the existing zoning districts along Route 7 and considering possible updates:
- Does the town have the right mix of zoning districts along Route 7?
- Should any district boundaries be modified?
- Review & update the stated "purpose" of each district
- Review & update the "permitted uses" and "conditional uses" for each district
- Review & update dimensional standards for each district
- How can the vision of the Town Plan be better incorporated into the zoning regulations?
- How can the town better support businesses along Route 7 without compromising the character of the town?
- Should more mixed uses be allowed?
WHAT DO YOU THINK? PLEASE LET US KNOW!
Call, write, or email the advisory committee (contact info),
or better yet - come share your thoughts at one of our meetings (schedule). We are looking for feedback from all points of view!
Please take a moment
to review what the current zoning and the town plan say about Route 7
while preparing your thoughts; handy links are provided under
"Background Information" below.
ROUTE 7 SURVEY
Survey Sent to Route 7 Property Owners: The
advisory committee sent out a
questionnarie to Route 7 property owners at the end of June, to gather
input for the Planning Commission from those most affected by any
potential changes to the zoning along Route 7. The following
questions were asked, with ample space provided for additional comments:
- What kinds of improvements, changes or developments would you like to make on your Route 7 property over the next 5 to 10 years?
- What zoning district is your property in?
- What do you think the Route 7 corridor from the Vergennes/Waltham line to the Charloote line will look like in 5 to 10 years?
- Are there commercial or light industrial uses that you think are not appropriate along Route 7 in Ferrisburgh?
- What scale of commercial or light industrial development is appropriate along Route 7?
- Should there be mixed uses along Route 7?
- Does building style and/or appearance matter to you?
- What types or sizes of signs do you think are appropriate for businesses on Route 7?
- What amount and types of exterior lighting should be allowed for businesses on Route 7?
- How do you feel about national or regional chain or franchise business development in Ferrisburgh?
- full text of the questionnaire, as mailed
The Response:
Of the 122 questionnaires mailed out to Route 7 property owners, we
received 45 responses in time for presentation at the July 15 Planning
Commission meeting and an additional 8 responses which have also been
forwarded on to the commission, for a whopping 43% response rate!
This shows the importance of this issue to our town. The
responses cover a wide range of views, but generally showed broad
support for businesses on Route 7 as well as concern about what the
Route 7 corridor should look like.
The link below is the summary of all comments received by the July 15
Planning Commission meeting, as presented to the commission. Comments
have been taken verbatim from the returned questionnaires, with only
minor spelling corrections. Originals of the questionnaire sheets
can be viewed at the Town Offices.
Questionnaire results as presented on July 15 to the Planning Commission
Questionnaire for Ferrisburgh Residents other than Route 7 Property Owners - deadline August 31, 2009
If you are a Ferrisburgh
resident/property owner but NOT a Route 7 property owner, you are
welcome to complete a questionnaire as well. Please use the
version of the questionnaire below, so we can track responses
separately from those of Route 7 property owners. Completed
questionnaires should be mailed to: Citizens Advisory Committee,
PO Box 91, North Ferrisburgh VT 05473. Thank you!
Route 7 Questionnaire for non-Route 7 owners
BACKGROUND INFORMATION ON ROUTE 7
Current Zoning:
The current zoning
bylaws include six zoning districts along the Route 7 corridor between
the Charlotte and Waltham lines. The "purpose", uses, and
dimensional standards for each district are described in the bylaws
(see link below).
- Rural Residential (RR-2)
- Rural Agricultural
(RA-5)
- Conservation (CON-25)
- Highway Commercial
(HC-2)
- Industrial (IND-2)
- Village (VIL-2)
Current zoning map - UNOFFICIAL COPY (PDF 219kB)
Description of districts
from current zoning bylaws - UNOFFICIAL COPY (PDF 465kB)
Town Plan: The
Town Plan describes a vision for land use for several areas of town
including the Route 7 corridor (see excerpt and maps, below).
Note that the
boundaries of these areas do not correspond
directly
to the existing zoning districts. Per state law, zoning
bylaws must be "in conformance with" the town plan in effect at the
time of adoption or amendment of the bylaw. "Conformance" is
defined by state law for this purpose as "makes progress toward
attaining, or at least does not interfere with, the goals and policies
contained in the municipal plan."
Land Use Maps from Town Plan - UNOFFICIAL COPY (PDF 362kB)
Excerpt from Town Plan
related to land use areas and policies - UNOFFICIAL COPY (PDF 450kB)
2007 Draft Land Use Regulations: The
preliminary 2007 draft land-use regulations provide some suggestions
for how the vision of the Town Plan could be incorporated into the
updated zoning regulations (note: the Planning Commission is
using the 2007 draft only as a "reference" document for the
current zoning update, not as the baseline for the update). The
2007 draft introduced the concept of a "Civic Center" zoning district,
which may be worthy of further consideration.
Excerpt on "Civic Center" district from 2007 DRAFT
2007 DRAFT Map showing location of proposed Civic Center
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