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Committee approves forwarding driveway-access ordinance requiring access permits before building permits
Summary
Staff presented a revised driveway-access ordinance that would require access permits prior to issuing building permits, set spacing standards to protect farmland, and cap accesses (two per quarter mile) and entrance widths (35 ft max, 24 ft min); the committee approved forwarding the ordinance to executive finance (Chris seconded).
Staff reviewed revisions to the driveway-access ordinance that would require access permits before issuing building permits for new construction and new access points, closing a loophole that previously allowed building permits without an access permit. The proposal clarifies coordination with towns (Springfield), incorporates farmland-preservation spacing standards (new driveways should not divide farm fields where practical), and sets access limits: a maximum of two accesses per quarter-mile of road frontage and entrance widths capped at 35 feet (maximum) and 24 feet (minimum).
"Permits are required prior to the issuance of building permits for all new construction and for all new access points," the staff presenter said, explaining the change addresses situations where property owners previously obtained building permits without access permits and oriented structures toward higher-traffic roads. The presenter said town permit processes would continue to apply where towns already issue access permits.
A motion to send the ordinance to executive finance was moved and seconded; committee member Chris seconded the motion and the committee approved it. Staff said spacing, culvert, slope and approach standards in the draft generally reflect prior discussions and that some technical specifications (culvert sizes, slope maximums) remained unchanged since the previous draft.
