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‘That view is just priceless’
The Glaser property — 97 acres at the intersection of Mountain View Road and Old Stage Road — is being considered as a site for about 100 new homes.
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It’s never been tried for a residential development proposal in Williston before. Jack and Kate Glaser, owners of 97 acres at the intersection of Mountain View and Old Stage roads, are preparing a “Specific Plan” application to the Planning and Zoning Department that would green-light up to 100 new homes. Guided by their consultant, former Williston Planning and Zoning Director Ken Belliveau, the Glasers have held informal discussions with the Planning Commission and Conservation Commission over the past three months about the benefits and downsides of attempting the Spe-
then move on to Development Review Board hearings for building permits. But first, the Planning Commission is tasked with determining whether the development will provide a “substantial benefit.” At the March 1 Planning Commission meeting, Belliveau pressed members for an affirmative, if informal, ‘yes’ to that question. “It’s an elaborate process to go through a Specific Plan and we would want it to be worthwhile,” Belliveau said. He proposed that the preservation of about 50 acres on the north side of the property, fronting Mountain View Road, should qualify as a substantial public benefit. Homes would be built on about 50 acres at the south of the property, fronting Old Stage Road — excluding some wetlands on the property’s western edge. Planning Commission member Chapin Kaynor said many of
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BY JASON STARR Observer staff
cific Plan approach. A Specific Plan allows a developer to create site-specific building standards that may not comply with the town’s land use regulations. It also allows a development to bypass the town’s growth management process that slows the pace of housing construction to no more than 20 new homes a year. In return, the developer is required to provide a “substantial benefit to the town,” according to the Williston Unified Development Bylaw, which could take the form of conserving open space, providing affordable housing or building a rec path. A successful Specific Plan process would take nearly a year to approve; it requires the Planning Commission to appoint a special advisory committee to create the site-specific rules, hold public hearings on the rules, vote to recommend it for approval to the Selectboard. If the Selectboard approves the plan, the developer can
BROW NELL
Property owner pitches ‘Specific Plan’ zoning to expedite housing construction
OBSERVER PHOTO BY AL FREY
The marker shows the location of the Glaser property under consideration for a housing development.
Taft Corners zoning rewrite slowed by developer opposition BY KARSON PETTY Community News Service A disagreement over whether a preplanned development project in Taft Corners should have to conform to a new set of zoning rules came to light during last week’s meeting of the Williston Planning Commission. The debate was sparked by developer Chris Snyder’s housing proposal for the Essex Alliance Church property along Route 2A, which has already received preliminary approval from the Development Review Board. Snyder’s proposal calls for rows of houses with private open spaces and outdoor recreation areas. But with a sprawling street layout and garages for every residence, some town
planners say it is more car-oriented than pedestrian-friendly. When Planning Commission Chair Meghan Cope first saw the plans last September, she thought they were out of line with what the Planning Commission was looking for in Taft Corners. “That was such a great opportunity for the first form-based development to hit the ground,” she said, “and instead it had tons of garages and the way it was arranged was not in line with what (the commission was) hoping for.” Planning Commission members are attempting to finalize new zoning rules for Taft Corners — called form-based code — while taking into consideration feedback from de-
velopers and residents submitted during public hearings in February. Snyder said the form-based code had been drafted without consideration of his project ― which he began planning in December of 2020. The Planning Commission began brainstorming the new set of zoning rules about a month later. “I think the way that (the code) has been developed is saying ‘we don’t care what you already did,’” Snyder said. Cope told Snyder that the Planning Commission had no intention of excluding his plan from their considerations in drafting the code. It was working to draft rules that would create a strong pedestrian element in Taft Corners.
“The (code) is not a matter of ‘let’s see who we can squeeze,’” she said, “it’s a matter of what we want in our town and how we want our town to be organized.” Planning Commission vice chair Chapin Kaynor was sympathetic to Snyder, realizing that it would be unrealistic for Snyder to redesign his project in order to fit the code. He suggested continued talks in hopes of reaching a compromise. “I don’t want this discussion to derail our entire thing about adopting form-based code,” Kaynor said. The Planning Commission continued the hearing on the form-based code to its March 15 meeting. “We still have work to do,” Cope said.