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Jackson Planning Board approves short-term rental and site-disturbance ordinance edits
Summary
At a Jan. 20 public hearing the Town of Jackson Planning Board approved housekeeping edits to the short-term rental rules and moved size/grade standards into the Site Disturbance section, adding a grade threshold and renaming the application field to “Notice of Intent.”
The Town of Jackson Planning Board unanimously approved a set of zoning-ordinance edits at a public hearing on Jan. 20, 2025, including a minor wording change to short-term rental rules and clarifications to site-disturbance requirements.
Chair Bill Terry opened the hearing and read the proposed amendments to the Short-Term Rental section (ZO 4.4), including a small wording change to 4.4.3.6.v—the board noted the new word “such” will be bolded in the finalized text—and an enhancement to enforcement language in 4.4.6.1. "The only modification required was to section 4.4.3.6.v is the word 'such' needs to be bolded as it is a new word," Chair Terry said. There were no public comments on the short-term rental amendments and the board did not debate those edits further.
The board spent the bulk of the hearing on clarifying how the ordinance treats "site disturbance." Chair Terry said the current definition in Section 3.36 is simple but the ordinance lacks clarity on monitoring and thresholds for size and grade. Town Engineer Burr Phillips recommended adding a grade requirement and confirmed the town's certified-engineer clause is a local requirement rather than a state mandate. Phillips’ suggestion led the board to move the previously recommended grade language into Section 4.1.6.5 so it will read in part: "Where the Site Disturbance area is greater than 7,500 square feet, and the land surface has a grade greater than 5% ...".
A member of the public, Normand Benoit, praised the changes as an improvement, saying the updates "require notice to the Town, needing a plan and giving some enforcement provisions to the Town," and that he is "very pleased with the action of the Town regarding this matter."
On motions, the board voted unanimously to (1) leave the Site Disturbance definition in Section 3.36 unchanged and address size and grade thresholds in Section 4.1.6; (2) add the grade language to 4.1.6.5; and (3) make a housekeeping wording change replacing "Application" with "Notice of Intent" to match the form heading. Chair Terry said the changes are a "great start" and that the board should continue reviewing ordinances to minimize land impacts on neighbors. The hearing was then closed and adjourned at 8:25 p.m.; the board noted the next regular meeting is scheduled for Feb. 13, 2025.
