Zoning Bylaws and Legal Regulations Shelburne Falls is a village made up of small sections of the towns of Shelburne and Buckland. The zoning for Shelburne Falls is included in the zoning bylaws for each town’s respective section of the village. Zoning districts include Village Commercial, Village Residential, Commercial, Industrial, and a small section of Historic Industrial on the Buckland side of the river (Figure 7). The Agricultural and Recreational Uses sections, found in each town’s Zoning Bylaws, are the most relevant to this project and describe the agricultural activities allowed, not allowed, or allowed by special permit within the zoning districts of the village. Table 1 shows the bylaws regarding these activities. There are no agricultural activities explicitly prohibited by Buckland’s bylaws, but Shelburne’s bylaws do not allow pig farming within the village. The special permitting process may limit certain activities in any part of the village. To acquire a special permit in both Shelburne and Buckland, a resident must go before the Zoning Board of Appeals. Neighbors within three hundred feet of that resident’s property are notified and have the right to LEGEND voice their opposition to or concerns about Road the special permit being sought. Ultimately, the Water decision to grant the special permit belongs to the Zoning Board of Appeals, which weighs Commercial the request of the person seeking the permit Industrial with any opposition voiced by neighbors. The challenges of acquiring a special Rural Residential permit for agricultural activities that are Village Commercial unfamiliar within the village setting may have 0.25 1.0 0 0.5 Village Residential an impact on food production. For example, Miles because livestock farming on less than five Historic Commercial Figure 7. Zoning districts of Shelburne Falls. Datalayer identified by the town acres is allowed by special permit only, a of Buckland, 11/6/2005, and Shelburne, 4/11/2008. Digitized by the Franklin Other resident who wants to raise sheep would have Regional Council of Governments
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BUILDING A FOUNDATION: BACKGROUND INFORMATION
Road Water Commercial Industrial Rural Residential Village Commercial Village Residential Historic Commercial Other
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