CONSERVATION COMMISSION of the TOWN OF HALIFAX
Special Joint Meeting with Zoning and Planning Commission
Tuesday, January 14, 2025, at 6:30 PM
Hybrid Meeting – In-Person and Remote
Town Office, 246 Branch Road, West Halifax VT
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/83140976854?pwd=dFFkWE1tdk84VjFGc1RZODJvM2NjUT09
Meeting ID: 831 4097 6854, Passcode: 793307
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DRAFT MINUTES
Attendees: Stephan Chait (Chair), Laurel Copeland (Secretary), Mary Horne, Lesley Pollitt (Treasurer), Tom Fox (Chair Z&P), Matt Gancz (Z&P), Kaitlin Stone (Z&P), Eli Summers (Z&P), Bill Pusey (Z&P), Penfield Chester, Edee Edwards, Bonnie Brown, Linda Huebner, Chris Parkins [& Janice Bliss], Jamie Keithline Matt Bachelor (Regional Planning Assistance; regional plan update; municipal guidance), Kyle Farnsworth, Linda Huebner, Sue Kelly, Diana Conway, Nancy McCrea, Paul Placentino, Leanne Placentino.
Unable to attend: Tina Blaise (Z&P Sec’y), Dov Towler (CC)
CALL TO ORDER at 6:30 pm
CHANGES AND/OR ADDITIONS TO AGENDA – None
APPROVAL OF PREVIOUS MEETING MINUTES –
November 12, 2024, Regular Meeting of Planning Commission / Zoning Board of Adjustment – approved.
NEW BUSINESS
Matt Bachelor from Windham Regional Commission regarding Zoning Regulations for Tiny Houses and Short-term Rentals
Tiny Homes: considered permanent structure if connected to water & sewer but as RV if unconnected and moveable. Must have: space for sleeping, kitchen, habitable, wastewater treatment. Enforcement is tricky. E.g., you are allowed to have an RV for a certain amount of time (how to track that?). Do town listers keep track of tiny homes? Enough square footage? Software should track these homes and also RV’s. Enforcement by admin first then by town attorney. If writing citations, have to keep on top of it and be consistent. If Halifax is going to begin enforcement of rules around tiny homes and RV’s, need to get that info out to all residents. Town plan rewriting soon and will be voted on by voters so will need to put this in that and permit will get approved or denied. Local health officer is relevant in a case where no wastewater system. State law says “seasonal home” has residency less than 90 days per year and then sanitation is not required. Matt will find someone we can talk to about wastewater issues; possibly Margo Ghia.
Q: what is Halifax limit on RV use?
Short-term Rentals (STR): Halifax could adopt an ordinance adopted by the Selectboard (rather than zoning by-laws); Wilmington is doing this. Adoption by SB following an open hearing process. With an ordinance, no property is grandfathered in, all properties must come into compliance. Some towns, e.g., Chester, have set a cap on the number of short-term rentals allowed. Most STR ordinances have been put in place within past 2 years, so there is little experience with how they work out. Matt can put us in touch with towns that have these ordinances. There has been one resident complaining about too much traffic to a STR. If fees on STR are collected, they generally cover administrative costs.
Campgrounds: There may be some loopholes or contradictions in the regulations; these are being revised. There should be a clear connection between town oversight / review of campgrounds and Act 250. Conditional Use: Landowner needs to make themselves aware of restrictions on property if it is in a Conservation District or otherwise restricted; the application should reflect these issues.
Discussion of Class 4 Roads and Town Trails – Class 4 roads and legal trails are public rights-of-way that are not maintained by the state or town. Town counsel felt that these things should be addressed in a highway ordinance. Halifax’s higher road miles:people ratio puts financial pressures on the town. Town plans and state regs say that one cannot use something that is not a highway as road frontage (for building). Maintenance is not the responsibility of the town, but can other users maintain it? Is use unrestricted? A town could give up the legal trail and make it / let it be a private road. If a private road is insufficient to support fire and ambulance vehicles, for example, then that is a problem for the landowner. There is now a resident in Whitingham who accesses their home from Halifax and wants the trail plowed to their house. Halifax does not want to give up any of its legal trails and Class 4 roads. There are a number of issues around town trails that can be considered separately. The first topic is road frontage; trails have none as trails are not highways. The second is who is responsible for determining what a trail can be used for and who maintains the trail. Matt B suggested Colin Bratton as a contact for this area of information.
Permits: Zoning Permit Renewal Application, Conditional Use Application Form, Halifax Driveway Permit – Some changes are being made to Driveway Permit form (from 2017), such as asking for applicant’s email address. Should these forms include information about wetlands/streams near a driveway? May 2017 Plot Plan mentions “Location of all streams, rivers and wetlands; Measurements (distances) from all existing and proposed structures and/or uses to all lot lines, center lines of roads, nearest bank of streams, rivers, and wetlands.”
OLD BUSINESS
OTHER BUSINESS
HEARING OF VISITORS – None.
ADJOURNMENT at 8:03 pm.
Link to video recording: https://youtu.be/1QMjR0HNOCQ?si=JCN6vn0mEq6PfdET