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Date: 8/15/2023
WESTHAMPTON — In 2016, the six members of the Zoning Bylaw Review Committee began to research and update local zoning laws regarding real estate, construction and land use. Members met twice a month for seven years. On Aug. 8, their work received a long-awaited public hearing.
Committee Chair John Shaw went before the Selectboard on July 31 to offer preview copies of the 119 page document. The rewrite of the town’s entire zoning bylaws is substantially different and transformative. The committee put in hundreds of hours in meetings and hundreds of hours online, researching topics. Several sections were rewritten, only to be rewritten again in response to a regulatory change at the local or state level.
“That was seven years ago when they came and said, will you serve on the committee,” Shaw said. He heaped praise on fellow committee members and their commitment to the job. “We may not get a single word written in a night’s work, but that’s because we discuss it, we go back to review it, we bring up existing bylaws somewhere else, we do all kinds of research, then we take a look at it. They’ve been tremendous.”
Member John Kelsey, a Connecticut resident, also sits on the town’s Zoning Board of Appeals, an appointed position available to a non-resident. Pat Coffee is the liaison with the Planning Board. Other members include Steven Gagne, an attorney, Brigid O’Roirdan and Art Pichette.
Shaw was involved in municipal planning for 40 years and helped write the current zoning bylaws in the 1990s. The rewriting is fascinating work for the retired fire chief and the other committee members who savor the back and forth discussions and fact-finding that inform the new bylaws. Members attended Zoom meetings from as far away as Thailand.
Kelsey drove up from Connecticut to take part in the camaraderie. Members met twice a month, about 160 meetings over seven years, and always reached a quorum.
“It really started to originate with the building inspectors, who were having trouble defending our bylaws,” Shaw said. “Too much grey area. [So] they send everyone to the ZBA and everything takes forever to get a decision, just by the process … the process is slow.”
The new zoning bylaws, Shaw said, empower the building inspector to be the first town official most people see when dealing with construction permitting and land use questions. The building inspector will direct the project-oriented visitor to any necessary forms and other required stops. The inspector’s triage streamlines many processes in Town Hall and will reduce the roadblocks to receiving a permit or some other official decision.
The importance of standardized zoning bylaws was demonstrated at the Selectboard meeting when a resident named John spoke about a problem. John’s neighbor has a gravel driveway. The gravel washes onto John’s property every year. He wants it to stop. His neighbor has an open construction permit, so the zoning laws, rather than the town’s general bylaws, apply.
“Erosion that causes destruction to a neighboring property or the road…has to be corrected or is punishable by a fine of $100 per day” under the new zoning laws, Shaw said. “The fee goes in general [bylaws], the zoning goes in zoning, and they back each other up.”
The father of two grown children, previously a restaurateur and an EMT, said the new additions to the zoning bylaws are featured in green in the electronic copy on the town’s website. Sections for accessory dwelling units or ADUs, cannabis cultivation, packaging and retail sales, and short-term rentals are all new to the zoning laws.
One reason to allow ADUs, Shaw said, is the need of retired residents on fixed incomes to remain in their homes. ADUs, both attached to and detached from the main dwelling, are limited to 900 square feet. Mobile homes are still not allowed in Westhampton, though Shaw knows about one being used as a rental property.
The new zoning for cannabis businesses took some twists and turns.
“Our bylaw is for medical marijuana,” Shaw said. Residents originally voted in favor of recreational marijuana businesses, a vote that was later rescinded. “We convinced people to do that because of the confusion of marijuana, because of the quickness of its growth…and because none of you want it next to you.”
Locating a commercial zone in town might be a decision residents face sooner rather than later. In the meantime, Shaw said, the town will be in a strong position to manage construction and land use. Changes will have to be made when changes occur at the state level, but that’s all part of the enjoyment, for committee members, of the research and writing.
“I think this is going to put Westhampton in a very good position,” Shaw said. “Change is not something to be afraid of, as long as you’re not changing just to change. We’re only changing things because we needed to address them… I really think Westhampton is gonna have a real good package.”
The package of new zoning bylaws goes before the public on Aug. 8. If the new bylaws receive a positive review by residents the package goes before the Planning Board, which will decide whether the rewrites go to the Selectboard. The Selectboard will vote to put the updates on the warrant for a town meeting.
Shaw expects a vote to formally adopt the new zoning bylaws will take place at a special Town Meeting in November.