WINCHESTER — The Winchester Planning and Zoning Commission voted to adopt a set of zoning text amendments that update fence rules in the Highland Lake District, add a new section regulating helipads and revise several definitions and the zoning use table. The commission set the amendments to take effect Sept. 1, 2025.

The amendments revise Article 2, Section 4-15-13 (subsection 3) — the Highland Lake District fences and walls provisions — remove a sentence that required a 9-foot view-shed width, and delete the words “and walls” from the subsection that had required fences to be ‘‘semi-open.’’ The package also adds a new Article 4 section (4-15-43) to regulate helipads, updates Article 5 and glossary entries (4-15-54) including definitions for helipad, manufactured home and mobile home, and changes Appendix A’s use table to clarify when zoning permits or special permits are required for changes of use and for certain accessory uses.

Commission staff told members the changes are primarily textual clarifications and that the Highland Lake District’s specific controls over lakeshore fences remain intact except for the deleted view-shed sentence. Commissioners discussed enforcement practicality and agreed the 9-foot view-shed language was ambiguous and hard to enforce; one commissioner characterized that sentence as an “enforcement nightmare” during deliberations.

Adam Quagiaroli moved to adopt the package with the condition eliminating the 9-foot view-shed sentence from 4-15-13(3)(a) and deleting the words “and walls” from 4-15-13(3)(b); the motion included an effective date of 09/01/2025. The motion was seconded and carried. Commissioners also instructed staff to renumber sections to preserve alphabetical order and to add helipads as a special-permit use in specified districts.

The commission’s motion said staff and the commission had relied on information submitted with the applications and that permits could be modified, suspended or revoked if that information later proved false or incomplete. The amendments also direct staff to circulate final drafts and updated section numbers to the commission before the effective date.

What happens next: The amendments become the town’s zoning text as of Sept. 1, 2025, subject to the recorded conditions. Staff said they will publish the updated regulations on the town website and distribute the final language to commission members and affected departments.