Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Land Use topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Code officer raises permit-cap option as towns comprehensive plan lags; board discusses data centers and turbines
Summary
Code enforcement officer Brent reported 14 zoning permits for May and said a statutory formula using a 10-year average could let the town cap new residential permits at a minimum of about 16 per year; he cautioned the towns outdated comprehensive plan (1999) could complicate adopting such a cap. Board members also discussed whether to consider moratoria on large commercial projects such as data centers or wind turbines.
Brent, the towns code enforcement officer, presented the May permits report and described a statutory process that could impose a cap on new residential dwelling permits. He told the board that 14 zoning permits were issued in May (including five single-family homes and one accessory dwelling unit) and five subsurface wastewater permits were issued.
Using the past 10 years of new-dwelling counts (147 total), Brent said the statutory formula yields a minimum cap level of roughly 16 permits per year (105% of the 10-year mean). "Year to date 2026, I have issued 16 permits for new dwellings and I have number 17 sitting on my desk," he said.
Brent warned that implementing a cap depends on items in the towns comprehensive plan; Greene's current comprehensive plan dates to 1999 and staff described updating it as more expensive and time-consuming than originally expected. Any ordinance to cap permits would require planning-board public hearings and ultimately a vote at a town meeting; if adopted, the cap would need review every three years and a new 10-year rolling calculation.
Board members raised other land-use concerns. One member asked whether large projects now getting attention elsewhere (notably data centers and utility-scale wind) could be precluded; staff said Greene currently lacks the infrastructure (electricity, sewer) and commercial zoning necessary to attract typical large data centers but said early-stage ordinances to restrict turbines had been discussed with the planning board.
The board did not adopt a permit cap at the June 1 meeting but asked staff to continue researching statutory requirements and the potential cost and timing of updating the comprehensive plan.
