Stowe planning director outlines major rewrite of zoning code; council raises concerns about downtown changes and retailer buffers

Planning Director Cowan presented a multi-chapter rewrite of Stowe’s zoning code on April 10, laying out a timeline that would move draft chapters through the steering committee, planning commission and council over the next six months and into fall for final consideration.

The proposal would consolidate multiple commercial districts into three — labeled C1, C2 and C3 — collapse several industrial districts into a single industrial district, create a new public/institutional (PI) district intended for schools and government properties, and add two new overlays: a mixed-use overlay targeted along Route 91 between Graham and Kent roads and a planned-development overlay (PDO) for major site proposals. The draft also recommends keeping residential zones (R1, R2, R3) but reducing lot-size thresholds for many lots to reduce nonconformities, and adding a host of definitions and new use standards (accessory dwelling units, ADUs; temporary uses; etc.).

Why it matters: The rewrite is intended to align the zoning code with the city’s comprehensive plan and make it easier for walkable, mixed-use development in central Stowe, while clarifying which uses belong in which districts. It also touches on highly visible community questions — where more intensive commercial uses such as car washes, gas stations, vape/tobacco retailers and adult-use…