Selectboard, Planning & Zoning News
by Edd Merritt, Dorrice Hammer and ancy Wood
May 20, 2010, pages 4-5.....
Green Mountain Habitat Event June 18, Zoning OK's Inn at the Old Lantern, Flood Hazard Amendments Public Hearing June 3, Candidates Considered for Selectboard, Lewis Creek/Quinlan Bridge Discussion, Speeding on Spear Street

Green Mountain Habitat for Humanity kicks off its Charlotte Project June 18 at the Old Lantern.

Calling it BYOS (Bring Your Own Shovel), Green Mountain Habitat for Humanity is sponsoring a get-together for the public at the Old Lantern on June 18 beginning at 5 p.m. The purpose is to elicit volunteers, show off its building sites across Greenbush Road and accept donations to the project. There will be music from Phil Mead and his band the Doctor Jazz as well as the stylings of keyboardist Tom Cleary. People may bring their own dinners, and desserts are on the house.

Green Mountain Habitat’s Executive Director, David Mullin, will describe the Charlotte project, which includes the first Habitat house in New England to meet the new passive solar standards set by the Passive House Institute. Guests will be able to meet members of the family – perhaps families – who will occupy the houses, as well as current partners from other Habitat projects. Although official groundbreaking is scheduled for several days following the event, everyone is invited to bring a shovel and symbolically turn over some sod on site – call it a populist pitch for affordable housing.

Habitat’s Tamira Martel says, “Everyone interested is invited to attend.” Children and families are welcome, and if the weather cooperates, the Gaujacs, who have kindly donated the Inn for the evening, say the backyard around the trellis is a lovely spot to congregate.

Zoning Board OK’s Inn at the Old Lantern.

The Charlotte Zoning Board of Adjustment approves under conditional-use regulations, Lisa and Roland Gaujac’s request to construct an 8-room inn and residence behind the Old Lantern on Greenbush Road. The town’s Planning Commission conducted a site visit to the suggested location and will offer word on the siting, landscaping, parking and vehicle-circulation aspects of the Gaujac’s request. The structure, now proposed to stand west and south of the Old Lantern, would be less than 35 feet tall. It would contain eight guest rooms and an owner’s apartment, with room for 12 parked cars. The Gaujacs plan to keep the Inn open throughout the year, but with limited rooms rented during the winter.

The Planning Commission has on its agenda tonight (May 20) a continued hearing on the application and site plan review for the Inn project.

Flood hazard amendments are up for public review.

The Planning Commission is holding a public hearing at the Town Hall on Thursday, June 3, at 7:30 p.m. to receive public comment on proposed amendments to the Land Use Regulations. (This hearing will follow the 7 p.m. workshop about allowing cafés/restaurants in the town’s rural district, such as at the Charlotte Berry Farm. See article on page 1.)

The main purpose of the proposed amendments to the Land Use Regulations is to update provisions related to flood hazard area review.

Charlotte and all other Vermont towns are required by the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) and the Vermont Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) to update provisions in Land Use Regulations for regulating development within the flood hazard district. The current district, which includes areas along Lewis Creek and some areas along the shore of Lake Champlain, is not changing. Failure to make these updates would leave Charlotte residents ineligible for national flood insurance coverage. The Planning Commission is also making small edits to the Land Use Regulations consisting of corrections and clarifications.

Following the June 3 hearing, the proposed amendments may be edited by the Planning Commission and then forwarded to the Selectboard, which will also hold a hearing. After further edits, if any, the amendments will go to the town for a vote by Australian ballot on November 2, 2010. The draft amendments may be viewed on the town website, charlottevt.org by clicking on the upper right box on the home page.

Candidates are being considered for the open Selectboard seat.

Currently three residents have volunteered to fill Frank Thornton’s seat on the Selectboard: Patrice Machavern, Clark Hinsdale III and Maurice Harvey. Machavern served nine years on the CCS School Board; Hinsdale and Harvey are both former selectmen. Other candidates are welcome to contact the Selectboard; a decision is expected at the next meeting on Monday, May 24.

Lewis Creek/Quinlan Bridge discussion raises issues of driver safety.

The Selectboard is weighing the issue of driver safety on Spear Street against the potential for “catastrophic loss of the bridge and road,” according to one of the consultants who have developed recommendations to reduce flooding and ice jams on Lewis Creek in the area of the Quinlan bridge.

The report, "Quinlan Bridge Area Alternatives Analysis to Reduce Flood and Erosion Risks," was prepared for the Lewis Creek Association by South Mountain Research & Consulting of Bristol and Milone & MacBroom, Inc., of Burlington, with support from the Vermont Agency of Natural Resources, the Town of Charlotte and landowners in the vicinity of Quinlan Bridge. Their recommendations would reconnect Lewis Creek with its historic floodplain on the north side of Spear Street, allowing the river to overtop the road more frequently when there is flooding and/or an ice jam at the bridge.

They recommend four alternatives for implementation in the following sequence while being incorporated into town maintenance to reduce costs.

• Remove 2-foot tall berm along Spear Street to the north of Quinlan Bridge
• Enlarge small bridge under Spear Street to the west of Quinlan Bridge
• Lower Spear Street 1.5 feet to the north of Quinlan Bridge and armor new embankment
• Lower Spear Street 1.5 feet to the west of Quinlan Bridge
At the May 10 meeting nearby landowner Jim Finkelstein asked if the goal was to save the bridge or to reduce erosion of the river bank. A different historic preservation study group is working on the bridge preservation project, but it was not clear at this meeting how their project interfaces with the river study.

The Selectboard and road commissioner Junior Lewis have raised concerns about the safety of motorists on Spear Street in the case of more frequent unexpected flooding and ice on the road, and how the public would be warned. Charles Russell said that he considered restoring the flood plain secondary to saving the bridge, and wouldn’t do it if not needed to for that purpose. The board is receptive, however, to accepting $30,000 of federal fish funds for a metal culvert to replace the cement box culvert just west of the bridge. Ed Stone has also pointed out the need to deal with the erosion that may soon undermine Spear Street upstream from the bridge.

Discussions will continue after more information is gathered about the condition of the bridge abutments and also the cost of moving the road to the north.

Selectboard promises to do something about speeding.

Also at the May 10 meeting, Sidney Armell asked for help with the speeding problem near his home on Spear Street Extension. He said many of the speeders are from New York, possibly commuting to IBM; some are local; a lot are on motorcycles. He said they have run over his lawn and taken out his mailbox. The neighborhood has many new homes with children; families walk and bike along the road. Charles Russell promised to notify the Shelburne Police to address the situation.