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Planning board adopts changes to broaden downtown permitted uses
Summary
The Union County Planning Board approved updates to downtown land‑use tables intended to allow more service and retail types (e.g., photographic studios, medical equipment rental) that the board said were excluded by an older code. The vote carried after a roll‑call with two abstentions.
The Union County Planning Board on Feb. 26 approved a rewrite of the downtown permitted‑use tables intended to open Center Street and North Avenue to a wider range of small businesses and services.
Kathy Vasio, who led the drafting work, told the board the town’s use lists had not been substantially updated since 1994 and in some cases relied on classifications older than that. She said the proposed changes reverse numerous outdated exclusions and would let more contemporary retail and service uses operate in the General and Central Business districts.
"Our current code is simply too restricted," Vasio said, urging the board to allow more businesses downtown. Planner and board member Steve Baran described how the revisions map to Standard Industrial Classification groups and noted a new allowance for "medical rental" (items such as wheelchairs) under the major‑group listings.
Board members pointed to examples where the existing language produced odd results, such as fireworks definitions that could encompass sparklers, and asked that more routine retail uses — photographic studios, shoe repair, craft and antique shops — be explicitly permitted rather than excluded.
The board moved to accept the land‑use document "as is." In the roll‑call recorded in the public transcript, the mayor was listed as abstaining, Councilman Carney registered an abstention, and other members voted in favor; the motion carried.
The board asked staff to provide a clean copy for the community development chair and to coordinate with the board attorney to consolidate text changes into a single Chapter 106 document for subsequent review.
Why this matters: board members said the update is intended to strengthen the downtown economy by permitting a broader set of small businesses and services that have emerged since the ordinance was last revised. Next steps include attorney review and committee coordination before the changes return for any additional formal hearings or final municipal adoption.
The meeting record shows the planning board discussed but did not yet finalize ordinance packaging; the revisions will be circulated to the community development chair and the board attorney for consolidation.
