Norwich
The Planning Commission has been considering the creation of a zoning district along Route 5 South and River Road to allow high-density developments with a requirement to include affordable housing.
Opponents outnumbered supporters of the idea at a forum in February, where they expressed concern that large-scale development could intrude on green spaces, overwhelm municipal services and change the character of the town.
“Based on this input, we understand more discussion and refinement of these ideas is needed,” said a May 11 “spring update” memo from the Norwich Planning Commission.
“Accordingly, we’ve decided to take no formal steps at this time to advance any Route 5 South/River Road zoning proposal. Instead, we plan to conduct a series of small group discussions in the coming months to get further input on how best to respond to public feedback and address the affordable housing need in Norwich,” the memo said.
Proponents, including those on the commission, said Norwich and the surrounding region lack affordable and market-rate housing stock — a problem the town could address, they hope, while increasing the diversity of the town’s residents and the enrollment of Norwich’s schools.
As commission members presented it in February, the zoning district could have allowed a maximum density of eight units per acre for new housing in the proposed district, with the permissible density decreasing as size increases. Twenty-five percent of new units would be classified as affordable housing.
The commission’s chairman, Jeff Goodrich, said on Monday that members were setting aside zoning ideas in favor of revisions to the town plan, a periodically updated document that gives the community’s vision for land use, which he said needed their immediate attention after it lapsed last year.
“We need to get this town plan thing to the forefront as a priority” was board members’ thinking, Goodrich said.
According to the commission’s May newsletter, Norwich must have an up-to-date town plan to apply for certain types of government grants and tax credits associated with the village center on Main Street.
That effort also has become entangled in the debate over the potential new zoning district. Some residents are concerned that the town plan update could bolster the ratification of a high-density zoning district, given that the current document expresses support for such an idea.
“This plan envisions the Route 5 corridor in Norwich as a suitable location for higher-density or -intensity uses, including commercial activities, while recognizing that a lack of wastewater disposal capacity continues to be a limiting factor to development in this area,” the plan says in one section.
Norwich resident Stuart Richards, a critic of the zoning proposal, pointed to that and other language in the town plan and predicted that proponents on the commission might later use it to support a push for high-density zoning.
“It’s important that the town plan actually reflect how the people feel,” he said.
Richards added that he and other residents were preparing to submit a petition that would ask for a townwide vote to ratify the town plan, in order to make sure it represented townspeople’s views.
In response, members of the commission said they may specify that any such zoning change will require a corresponding modification of the town plan. They also are considering modifying the town plan to say that high-density development along Route 5 is still a matter under consideration.
Some of the same critics of the zoning proposal, including Richards, in March and April applied for seats on the commission, saying the panel needed a wider range of voices. The Selectboard instead reappointed two members, Jacqueline Allen and Steve Thoms, to four-year terms.
Residents also have requested an expansion of the Planning Commission, a proposal the Selectboard hasn’t yet addressed.
Goodrich said that Norwich’s town plan needed to be aligned with the regional plan created by the Two Rivers-Ottauquechee Regional Planning Commission, which in turn reflects changing expectations from the Legislature.
The Norwich Planning Commission’s work will include updates to the town’s vision for energy use and development, he said.
As the commission considers revisions, another critic of the zoning plan, Ernie Ciccotelli, suggested that the new town plan should say that growth is “inherently incompatible with sustainability” and that it “is not necessarily a sure thing, nor a good thing for a community.”
“Growth should not be assumed to be inevitable, and should be dealt with much more carefully than it is at the present time by the Town of Norwich, not only the boards and commissions, but also by the town’s people,” Ciccotelli said in an email.
He also proposed that the plan include “clear and unambiguous” language that explains to what extent its provisions be considered enforceable regulations, rather than an aspirational vision.
After the town plan work is complete, Planning Commission members may return to the zoning district and hold small group sessions to address public feedback “in the coming months,” they said in their memo.
The commission’s next regularly scheduled meeting is on Wednesday at 7 p.m. in Tracy Hall.
Rob Wolfe can be reached at rwolfe@vnews.com or 603-727-3242.