After several months of hearings and debate, the Wilmington selectboard passed a pared-down and simplified amendment on March 2. Unless five percent of the town’s registered voters petition to have the new version of the design standards approved by Australian ballot before March 22, the zoning administrator and development review board will begin using the regulations on March 23.
The new design control document, renamed “historic review,” appears to address a number of concerns raised by residents and business owners over the last several years. Confusing and ambiguous language regarding the use of vinyl siding is gone. Now vinyl siding is “not recommended, but is allowed,” according to the new zoning amendment. But the new regulation also includes regulatory incentives to encourage building owners to eliminate vinyl. Replacing vinyl with wood clapboards, for instance, requires no approval from the town.
“There were problems and complaints that the old regulations were kind of vague,” notes zoning administrator Alice Herrick. “It needed to be more specific.”
Town manager Bob Rusten says selectboard members received the proposed amendment from the planning commission late last summer, held two public hearings, and incorporated a number of changes over the course of several work sessions. “I think, to a great degree, the selectboard continued to simplify the document,” Rusten says.
Many projects that conform to historic preservation guidelines established by the National Park Service can be administratively approved, avoiding a time-consuming and more costly hearing process. Permit changes that don’t “modify the intent” of the DRB’s decision, and signs that conform to certain standards can also be approved by the zoning administrator.
Herrick says the changes allowing expanded administrative approval are “more typical” of zoning in other towns, and offer a more user-friendly permit process. “If you’re staying within certain standards, I can approve it,” she says. “But if I say ‘no,’ you’re not stopped there, you can still go through the regular zoning process.”
Also gone is the controversial “color chart.” Under the new regulations, property owners will not need to seek a permit to change the exterior color of their building.
The new zoning amendment includes a list specifying projects for which property owners don’t have to seek approval, including painting, repairs, outdoor product display, resurfacing of driveways or walkways, roof repair, repairs or installation of storm and screen doors or windows, temporary site elements (including “Vermonsters” or other temporary art installations), and landscaping.
Selectboard member Meg Streeter says she has mixed feelings about design control, but the new document is an improvement for those who will use it. “It’s better than what we had, but it seems to be typical of a document created by many committees over a decade,” she says. “I think we made some changes that will be better for people in the district.”
During the public process, Streeter questioned the need for any design regulation. “I asked if (design control) had improved the downtown,” she says. “I don’t think I got an answer.”
The process, from planning commission to final approval, has taken a number of years, but Streeter says the process has resulted in a document that has been thoroughly vetted by those who will use it. “DRB members spent a lot of time and energy on it, relating it to cases they’ve had, and I think that improved it even further,” she says.
But given past controversies regarding vinyl siding, landscaping, and other design control issues, the board was surprised that there was limited public participation in their process. “I think there was an initial flurry of activity from residents of East Main Street when the planning commission proposed extending the boundaries of the district,” Streeter says, “but once that was dropped, interest waned. Some of the people we thought might have been interested didn’t seem to care at all.”
It was partly because of the lack of public interest, board members say, that they decided to adopt the amendment rather than opt for public approval through an Australian ballot.
“Initially, a couple of us thought it should go to the town,” Streeter says. “But as the process progressed, I thought, we’re doing the best we can, we got some input, and anyone who had a point to argue would have gotten a good hearing from us.”
The full text of the historic review district regulations is available at the Wilmington Town Office or at www.wilmingtonvermont.us.
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