New Shoreham council adopts Article 7 zoning changes to align with state unified development review

The New Shoreham Town Council on Monday voted to adopt a set of amendments to Article 7 of the town zoning ordinance intended to bring local code into line with recent changes in state law and to implement a unified development review process.

Town counsel and planning staff explained the amendments in a public hearing that covered revisions to Sections 702 and 708 (general provisions and notice), Section 703 (procedures for special use permits), and Section 706 (variances). Speaker 6, a town attorney/staff presenter in the transcript, told the council that the changes ‘‘are focused again on coming into compliance with the new state laws and also updating your current language to include unified development review.’’

The amendments change how some applications are routed. Speaker 6 said pre-application meetings ‘‘are generally an informal meeting’’ with staff and that ‘‘major land development’’ projects will still require pre-app meetings and publicly noticed hearings, while many ‘‘minor’’ applications may be handled administratively. He summarized statutory thresholds defining ‘‘minor’’ land development, noting limits such as up to 7,500 square feet of new commercial floor area, certain adaptive‑reuse limits, and multifamily projects of nine units or fewer.

Council members pressed staff on whether the new process would reduce community awareness of projects. The presiding council member (Speaker 1) said he worried the change would shift decision‑making ‘‘more focused on flexibility at the staff level rather than the board level’’ and could leave neighbors surprised if a project advanced while they were away. Staff replied communities can adopt internal policies to require more notice, but state law permits increasing thresholds only upward and does not require certified mail; staff cautioned certified mail can be burdensome to recipients and costly for applicants.

David Lewis, a resident who spoke during public comment, urged the council not to institutionalize posting notices literally on the town home page, saying that ‘‘accessible on the town's home page’’ can be interpreted in many ways and recommended a more structured posting approach tied to departmental pages.

After discussion, the council closed the hearings and approved the ordinance changes by voice vote. The council also approved amendments to special use permit procedures and to variance standards; staff noted that the state changed the standard for dimensional variances and the local code now reflects that change.

The council voted to adopt each amendment during the meeting and provided a work session and future review to consider operational impacts and notification practices. Staff said it would prepare additional guidance for the planning office and, if the council desires, draft local policies to expand notice beyond the statutory baseline.