Trustees push zoning-code rewrite forward after public comment; next draft due May 30

Trustees reviewed the status of a comprehensive zoning-code rewrite that has been under community review and will publish a new draft at the end of May after compiling public comments.

Nut graf: The village’s zoning-advisory committee and consultant received dozens of public submissions — the board recorded 78 pages of comments — and trustees agreed to an adjusted schedule to allow the consultant to incorporate public feedback and provide a formal responses log. The next draft will be released to trustees by May 30, with posted materials then available to the public.

The consultant and planning staff reported that 78 pages of comments had been submitted on the first draft, with large clusters of input on items including downtown transition zoning, open‑space rules, short‑term rental limits and historic-district language. Staff told trustees the next draft will remove a proposed downtown transition zone, create an open-space zone, prohibit short-term rentals except for bed-and-breakfast uses, carry forward current historic-commission language into the revised code, and consolidate accessory dwelling-unit (ADU) language from the current code.

The board and attendees pressed for public transparency about the revision process. Trustees asked that the consultant provide an issues log showing each public comment and whether and how it was incorporated — the consultant and planning staff said that log would accompany the next draft so that members of the public can see which suggestions were accepted, modified or declined and why. Trustees also agreed to schedule a special meeting (date to be determined) for board-level discussion of the draft after planning-board review and before a final public hearing.

Public commenters — including Zoning Advisory Committee members and residents — said the draft in some places is overly prescriptive for homeowners and small business owners and asked for clearer notice and outreach on public hearings. One commenter asked the board to post the draft and response log to the village website so residents could review the revisions and prepare testimony prior to planning-board consideration.

Ending: Trustees set a schedule for the next steps: the consultant will deliver the revised draft by May 30; the planning board will review and comment (staff noted a planning-board review date in mid‑June as part of the timeline); the board anticipates a special meeting to discuss the revised draft and will publish materials and a comment log on the village website so the public can track changes before the final vote and county referral.