Lanesborough Planning Board Wants Zoning Uses Updated
The Planning Board will take up a review of the town's antiquated and outdated zoning bylaws.
Board member Joe Trybus initiated a discussion on Monday seeking options for making the town's zoning bylaws clearer, and more permissive.
"Every time someone comes to the table [with a new business proposal] … it's almost like an automatic no, right off the bat," said Trybus. "I just feel that things have to change."
Some proposed usages of the former Vacation Village property were cited as examples, including an operation to produce coffee pods, or K-cups, that has recently encountered complications, and may need to obtain a new special permit from the board next month.
"We need some sort of clarity, on everything in there," Trybus urged.
"We have to got to make this town more business friendly," agreed Barbara Davis-Hassan, who also serves on the town's Zoning Board and Economic Development Committee. "We have an environment of no, and an environment that's not encouraging growth on this community.
"It seems like we need to say, we want you here. We've got one side pushing against the other, and it's not good."
Davis-Hassan said she believes one way to do this is through cleaning up the zoning bylaws, to make them clearer about what property owners can and can't do, and by eliminating restrictions that may be antiquated or unreasonable.
Planning consultant Andrew Groff said the best way to start might be doing "a comprehensive review" of the code's use table. Groff said some definitions, such as for "light industrial," were clearly antiquated and could use updating for the 21st century.
"I think we can do it so as to make it incredibly clear," said Davis-Hassan. "We just go in there and clean the whole thing up. Obviously we can't spot-zone, but we can do reasonable things."
The discussion emerged out of an agenda topic for board projects for 2021-2022, and Jeffrey Dechaine said this review "should go to the top of our list." The board agreed by consensus.
"It can take some time, so it's good to start early," Groff said.
Tags: Planning Board, zoning,
