Small Village ‘Feel’ Important to East Charlotte Planners
by Edd Merritt,
December 2, 2010, page 5.....

Nearly 30 people gathered in the East Charlotte Grange Hall on November 18 to report and discuss what had occurred in their small work groups over the summer. Each group had been charged with looking into different elements of planning for the future of Charlotte’s East Village. It was evident from the reports that they had been busy.

Members of the Transitions and Patterns group showed a map of their suggested changes to boundaries of zoning districts. They looked at three types of districts: rural, village and village commercial. They did not investigate the concept of “performance zoning” that had come up at a previous meeting. Their report noted “any discussion of performance zoning will have to take place at the level of our town-wide zoning regs.”

Continuity was the group’s goal for any change, saying “future Village District growth should look a lot like what exists today.” On their list of recommendations, the East Village district would expand to the west of Sheehan Green. It would contract slightly on the south side of Hinesburg Road to match the boundary on the north side and extend south to include Morningside Cemetery. All in all, the group said, it wants to “keep the village ‘feel’ rural and small, personable and attractive by keeping homes and enterprises similar in lot size and proximity to each other and roads.”

Members of the Natural Resources group looked at each of the four quadrants around Baptist Corners, “alone and in the context of the larger area.” They wanted to identify soil types and water resources, wildlife habitats, working forests and woodlands, geological features and vistas.
The group found the land around the village to be “richly endowed with natural resources.” They also looked into zoning boundaries in light of natural features. In so doing, they identified several zoning changes that would protect key biological resources and encourage “intensification of human activity” within Village and Village Commercial zones. Water, the group reported, is “perhaps our most valuable natural resource.” Its quantity and quality are important to current and future generations. Any future development must take it into account, protecting streams, wetlands and especially groundwater.

The Uses group members had begun to inventory current businesses, farms and historic structures. They plan to present their results when the inventory is completed and available to incorporate with the recommendations of the Natural Resources and the Transition groups.
The Transportation group looked into bike paths, walking trails and ways to calm traffic through the village.

Members of the group discovered that the Vermont Association of Snow Travelers (VAST) trails are open only to members during the winter and off-limits during non-snow season unless individual landowners are amenable to it. The town will be scrutinizing use of trail access across conserved lands. Junior Lewis, town Road Commissioner, said he was not planning to add bicycle paths to the resurfacing of blacktop roads scheduled for 2010, because it would require widening the roads themselves. He said that he could consider it when paving a gravel road. However, he noted that the voters had not supported such pavement in the past.

The state is developing signs that will identify East Charlotte Village, and it is hoped these may help calm traffic. Meeting participants also discussed the possibility of reducing speed limits and painting limits on the Charlotte/Hinesburg Road and Spear Street similar to those added recently in the West Village.

Following the group reports, Clark Hinsdale III spoke about the conservation of the former Bean Farm lands on north and south sides of the Charlotte/Hinesburg Road, creating an open agricultural boundary on the western end of the village.

The results of the meeting, including recommendations from each of the working groups, will be given to the Planning Commission for its review and recommendations.