Talk DRB to me, baby.
Part 1 of a sexy new series explaining what a Development Review Board is, and why Charlotte might create one
What’s a DRB and why would we want one? The first in a series of articles explaining proposed changes to Charlotte’s planning and zoning structure.
Chea Waters Evans
Okay, that headline was possibly a lie. For most, there is a distinct lack of sex appeal in planning and zoning. It is, however, a persistent ideological consideration, a cowbell in the background, an accidental peppercorn chunk in the eggs, if you will, in most decisions made by the Town of Charlotte’s governing bodies.
Planning and zoning are the source of constant push and pull between the town and local businesses, between Charlotte residents and development projects, between the town’s farming past and its struggle to remain a rural community with a viable future. Right now, the town is structured with a seven-member Planning Commission and a five-member, plus an alternate, Zoning Board of Adjustment. Those two entities are charged with developing a long-term plan for Charlotte’s land development and usage and enforcing the rules that already exist.
The Selectboard is pursuing the possibility of changing the planning and zoning governing structure of the town altogether and creating one board, a development review board, that would serve both of those functions.
Here are the questions I’m going to answer. (But not all at once. So much sexiness needs to be absorbed in smaller parts; I’d hate to overwhelm anyone.) What’s Charlotte’s current planning and zoning structure? In making a change, what problems is the Selectboard trying to solve? What’s the difference between all these boards in the first place? How could this change potentially fix things, and how could it potentially make matters worse?
What do we have going on right now?
The Planning Commission is made up of seven volunteer community members who are appointed to four-year terms by the Selectboard. According to the Vermont Secretary of State’s office, per state law, “The planning commission is a municipal panel that is principally responsible for drafting the town plan and the town’s land use bylaws. In towns that do not have a development review board the planning commission generally performs site plan reviews, subdivision reviews, and becomes involved with PRD and PUD review. The planning commission generally participates in the regional planning program. The planning commission may also prepare and present to the selectboard building, housing and other safety codes, undertake capacity studies, and prepare and present a capital budget.”
(PRD means Planned Residential Development and PUD means Planned Urban development.)
The Zoning Board of Adjustment in Charlotte has five volunteer Selectboard-appointed members, plus an alternate. There is currently a vacancy on this board. The secretary of state’s office explains the board’s function as “a municipal panel that performs a quasi-judicial permitting function (acts like a court) and hears appeals from actions or decisions of the administrator. It may also consider conditional use applications, decide requests for waivers, and rule on variance requests.”
Charlotte’s town Planning and Zoning department includes a town planner, a zoning administrator, and a zoning assistant who provides administrative support to the office.
The town planner’s job description in Charlotte is to work “independently but in conjunction with the Planning Commission, Zoning Board of Adjustment and the Design Review Committee for Thompson’s Point to facilitate town planning, development review and project permitting.” This incorporates a lot of specific responsibilities which are listed here.
The zoning administrator is charged with enforcing land use regulations, issuing zoning and occupancy permits, and guiding residents through the permit-application process. The ZA, who has a three-year contract with the town, is interviewed and nominated by the Planning Commission and then approved and hired by the Selectboard.
What would the change be?
Charlotte would replace the Zoning Board of Adjustment with a Development Review board, and shift some of the Planning Commission’s responsibilities over to the DRB. A DRB would replace the ZBA entirely; they would perform the current ZBA functions but would also assume the development review functions currently in the charge of the Planning Commission, like site plan and subdivision reviews. This would mean the Planning Commission, which would continue to exist, would focus on managing and modifying land use regulations and working on the Town Plan.
Up next: why do some people want to change the current model? Why do some people think this is a terrible idea?