Developer opposition grows to Taft Corners zoning changes
A map presented during the Feb. 1 Williston Planning Commission meeting shows proposed form-based code and natural and green space designations in the growth district.
Developers pushed back on proposed rule changes to turn Taft Corners into a walkable downtown area at the latest Williston Planning Commission meeting.
The Feb. 15 meeting was the second one held by the planning commission where Williston residents and developers could weigh in on changes to a working draft of new zoning rules. The rules are called form-based code, which was formally introduced in a Feb. 1 planning commission meeting, but has been in discussion for about a year.
“There’s been a lot of comments from developers about this process being rushed or only having two weeks to react,” said Alex Daley, a planning commission member.
The code will do away with distinct commercial, residential and industrial districts in favor of a comprehensive plan to have mixed-use developments ― such as public greens and getting rid of expansive parking lots.
“We’ve been at this for a year,” Daley said, “We’ve had numerous planning commission meetings where we’ve gone over (the code) page by page, line by line, sentence by sentence.”
Over those meetings, the planning commission and town planning staff took feedback from residents on the state of Taft Corners and published a document outlining the public’s vision for Taft Corners.
Geoff Ferrell, a design consultant hired by the town, led his team in writing the new rules and creating a new street grid based on the public’s vision.
The meetings during the spring of 2021 were held in an open and transparent way, Daley said, but no developers, or their representatives, attended them.
Over the first two weeks of February, town planning staff had conversations with developers where changes to the working draft of the new code were discussed.
“We’ve had some fruitful meetings with (town) staff and Geoff (Ferrell),” said Jeff Nick of Taft Corners Associates, “but we remain very concerned about the unintended consequences that are going to pop up here.”
Proposed changes to the code since Feb. 1 could be applied to three parts of Taft Corners, said Planning and Zoning Director Matt Boulanger.
The southeast area of Taft Corners, owned by Al Senecal and known as Cottonwood Crossing, was the first part up for discussion.
Under the proposed plan, Senecal was given more land to develop, but said he was still concerned that it made up an estimated 15 percent of his entire property. That 15 percent would include off-street parking, alleyways and private open spaces, leaving him about 5 acres, out of 80, to put buildings on.
Senecal said he is also concerned by an estimate from his site division team that put the cost of building all the roads proposed for his property at upwards of $10 million.
He said that the drafting process for the new code was going very quickly, and that everyone should have more time to digest the new rules.
“I don’t think I’m ready to say that I want to commit to this,” he said.
The northeast area of Taft Corners, owned by Chris Snyder and known as the Essex Alliance Church property, included a redesign of the proposed street grid to allow for development on both sides of the streets.
Snyder was concerned that the new code is not accommodating enough for new projects that do not quite fit within the new rules, like his own project, which is currently under review by the town.
He said that his project meets all the public works specifications of the town and adheres to the current town plan. However, if the form-based code were to be introduced as drafted, 18 months of work by him and his team would have to be redone.
Snyder wants provisions added to the code that would make it easier to tweak for new projects that don’t quite fit.
“I do want to make sure that this document is a great document that we can use,” he said.
The area surrounding Marshall Avenue, owned by Taft Corners Associates and represented by Nick, was deemed the southwest part by Boulanger.
Potential changes to that area of the planned street grid include an allowance for one-story buildings south of Marshall Avenue, and movement of the proposed Trader Lane green.
The minimum building height requirement for all of Taft Corners would be raised to two stories under the current draft of the new code.
Even though the Planning Commission did not get to discuss the southwest quadrant in depth, Nick voiced concerns about the unintended consequences of a form-based code for Taft Corners.
Future projects that conform to the form-based code may not turn out how the town expects and receive backlash, he said, giving Shelburne’s form-based code as an example.
The difficulty of stormwater management with pitched roofs was another concern of Nick’s. He gave Church Street in Burlington as an example of good stormwater management with flat roofs while still looking pleasing.
“We’re not trying to recreate Church Street,” Planning Commission Chair Meghan Cope said.
Nick was still concerned about stormwater management.
“I really think, before you jump into this, that you’ve got to figure out stormwater,” Nick said.
Nick was also concerned that the market for having apartments in the same buildings as retail establishments was not present in Taft Corners.
“Nowhere in this code, besides shopfronts along Wright Avenue, are we requiring retail,” said Taylor Newton, an attending member of the Chittenden County Regional Planning Commission.
“Any building anywhere could be residential all the way up,” he said, “besides Wright Avenue.”
Nick also defended his level of involvement in the Taft Corners form-based code project by saying, “we have been actually paying attention to this.” As soon as he and his associates learned of the new code, they made comments about zoning changes around Marshall Avenue and raised concerns about the new street grid.
Concerned residents also made comments at the Feb. 15 meeting.
Donna Roeser said she doesn’t want new buildings to be built like the new hotel on Blair Park Road.
Emily Heymann, development review planner, said that the hotel does look like it is “floating in a void.” Under the new code, buildings like that would be built with sidewalks, parking and neighboring buildings in mind.
“I don’t want the perfect to be the enemy of the good,” planning commission vice chair Chapin Kaynor said. “This plan is a way, from the developers’ perspective, to be able to develop without having to have the concern that they’re out of alignment with town goals,” he added.
“I want to make sure we move ahead with it even when we have things that are not perfect,” said Kaynor, “because we’re not going to get it perfect the first time.”
Daley said that there is a lot of new language about to be introduced in the code, and recommended another meeting to give more time for the community to understand that language.
The Planning Commission voted to continue discussing changes to the form-based code in a meeting scheduled for March 1.
“We still have work to do,” said Cope.
Go to www.mytaftcorners.com for more information on form-based code, recordings of planning commission meetings and the current draft of the Taft Corners code.
Original article can be found at the Williston Observer.
