Committee advances ZTA 25-08 to protect legacy landscapers, 3-0 vote

The county’s Planning, Housing and Preservation Committee voted 3‑0 to forward a zoning text amendment, ZTA 25‑08, to the full council after sponsors said the change will prevent legacy landscape contractors from losing protected status over minor, correctable layout changes.

Council member Mink, sponsor of the ZTA, told the committee the amendment clarifies legacy status established in a 2018 zoning change by allowing landscape contractors in the Rural Cluster (RC) and similar zones to retain their grandfathered status if they return their total on‑site operational square footage to what existed on Oct. 30, 2014 after receiving a single violation. Mink said the change also allows a one‑time correction: if a contractor receives one violation and then restores the original total square footage, they retain legacy status; a second violation would result in loss of that status.

Planning staff explained the change adds the term “total square footage” to the ordinance so that minor shifts in the placement of materials or vehicles (for example, moving a pile of soil a few feet) do not trigger a violation for expanding a use boundary. Miss Nadeau, a planning staff member, said the Planning Board recommended approval without amendment and that no written or in‑person testimony opposed the ZTA at the public hearing.

Mink said the amendment intends to reduce an unintended regulatory burden on small local landscapers who may unknowingly exceed layout limits and then face immediate conditional‑use requirements. Nadeau and committee members discussed that the change is limited in scope and preserves enforcement: after one notice and correction, repeated violations would still subject the operator to conditional‑use review.

With no amendments offered at committee, the chair called the roll. The committee recorded a unanimous 3‑0 vote in favor; the ZTA will be transmitted to the full council for further consideration.