Two concurrent proposals to amend South Hero’s development regulations — one from regional planners and the other from a resident petition — have renewed debate in this small island community about the density and possible locations of future building projects.
Late last month, the St. Albans-based Northwest Regional Planning Commission went before South Hero’s own planning commission with a slate of potential zoning changes that would establish minimum lot sizes and increase building setbacks in at least some parts of the town’s two higher-density zones, known as “village zoning districts.”
The proposal was a response to feedback from residents, some of whom are frustrated with the scope of the village districts, said Greta Brunswick, a senior planner with the organization. When they were created more than two years ago, the districts included a number of properties that had long been located in lower-density zoning areas.
Yet the proposal also came after members of an informal group of residents — who’ve been some of the most vocal opponents of the 2020 changes — gathered more than 100 signatures on a petition calling for Town Meeting Day articles that, if approved, would reduce the size of the village zoning districts and revert much of the land that’s currently in those districts to less dense, “rural residential” zoning.
Members of that same group, known as South Hero Voters, successfully petitioned the town to put two articles on last year’s Town Meeting Day ballot that require new zoning changes, and new town plans, to go to a townwide vote. Both measures passed.
South Hero planning commissioners have expressed support for the regional planning commission’s proposals, though they have not yet been approved. At a Dec. 21 meeting, Sandy Gregg, the commission’s chair, said she believes those recommended changes would address residents’ concerns.
“You may want to reconsider this petition — and these two articles — knowing that we are addressing the concerns of the group that you represent, and they will have plenty of say,” Gregg told Joan Falcao, one of the residents who organized the petition.
Yet Falcao and her husband, Robert Fireovid, said Thursday that, while they agree the proposed changes are a step in the right direction, they still want the petition to go on the ballot.
“I think voters have a right to vote on this,” Falcao told commissioners last month. “This gives them the opportunity to say that they want a different density.”
The South Hero Selectboard plans to discuss the petition when it meets Jan. 9, after which the articles could be placed on the ballot, board chair David Carter said Thursday. He said the town attorney is currently reviewing the petition language.
The regional planning commission’s proposal suggests essentially dividing South Hero’s existing village zoning districts into “village core” and “village neighborhood” areas. The “cores” would include parcels largely along Route 2 in the town’s two state-designated village centers, where most businesses are located. The “neighborhoods,” meanwhile, would generally include the more residential portions of the existing zoning districts.
One village zoning district is based around the intersection of Route 2 and South Street; the other is about 2 miles north, around the intersection of Route 2 and Route 314.
The village zoning districts do not have a minimum lot size requirement, unlike most of the town, where it’s 1 acre. The required setback from a property line is at least 10 feet, compared to 25 feet in other zoning districts, according to the regulations.
Minimum lot size rules determine how small a developer can subdivide a parcel; larger lots mean that fewer homes can fit in a given area. This has been at the heart of recent zoning debates in town: Some residents have argued that, while they have no issue with smaller lot sizes — and, thus, potentially denser development — in the town’s two commercial centers, they want lots to be no smaller than an acre in other areas.
Members of the organization have been labeled NIMBYs, for “not in my backyard,” a term that refers to people who do not support a given project where they live but would support the same project if it were located somewhere else.
They’ve contended, though, that putting zoning changes up to public votes is about engaging more residents in the planning process, and not about preventing new construction.
Falcao told planning commissioners in late December that she and others conducted a survey of 57 residents across the two village zoning districts, and found that a majority of respondents did not know their property was in one of those higher-density districts, and, once informed that it was, said they would prefer not to be.
Town officials have maintained it’s the role of bodies such as a planning commission to make land use decisions on behalf of residents, and if residents want to share input, they can attend public meetings.
“I mean, frankly, 1-acre zoning for residences — that’s a lot of land,” Carter said in an interview Thursday. “I think it’s important that towns — with their zoning bylaws, and with their planning commission and town plans — look at and allow for modest-income housing. And the way to do that in many communities is to reduce the lot sizes.”
He added that he thinks the zoning changes the planning commission is considering strike a good compromise. Many businesses — including some on the Lake Champlain Islands — have struggled to hire workers, Carter said, and part of the reason is that there isn’t enough affordably priced housing in the area where those workers can live. “To have planning that excludes that is selfish,” he said, “and it’s also undemocratic and it’s classism.”
The median household income in South Hero is about $108,000, which is some 1.5 times the statewide average, according to recent U.S. Census data. About 85% of homes in the roughly 1,500-person town are owned, while 15% are rented.
Brunswick said at the meeting Dec. 21 that the town’s village zoning districts, in addition to allowing more types of housing, were designed to make it easier for people to get around by locating residential and commercial land uses closer together.
“The more commercial development you allow, the more residential development can be supported by it — and vice versa,” she told commissioners. “That is how we create a vibrant village. And we have to allow for some level of density to create that place.”
She also noted that even if the town’s village zoning districts had a small minimum lot size, rather than no minimum size, there would likely be little noticeable difference in the scale of the structures that would be built there.
Another factor limiting development, town officials have noted, is that South Hero does not have a municipal water or sewer system to support large new projects (though a feasibility study for one is underway).
At its meeting Wednesday night, the South Hero planning commissioners agreed they would support one-quarter-acre minimum lot sizes in the proposed “village cores,” and indicated support for at least half-acre minimum lot sizes in the “village neighborhoods.”
The board is set to continue discussing the proposed changes at its next meeting on Jan. 18.
