Jericho Planning Commission advances 'Small House' PUD concept and sets summer outreach, hearings

The Jericho Planning Commission on July 7, 2026 reviewed draft standards for a Small House Planned Unit Development (PUD) intended to permit compact clusters of small homes in Low Density Residential and Rural/Agricultural areas while preserving surrounding working lands.

Town Planner Chris Shaheen told commissioners the draft would limit a Small House PUD to one proposal per originating parcel within a five-year period on parcels of at least 10 acres, concentrate development on roughly 1.6–2 acres, and allow clusters of four to eight dwelling units with a 1,500-square-foot maximum building size. CS said the working group recommended that at least 50% of dwelling units be designated affordable under Jericho’s definition of affordability (100% of area median income).

The commission pressed staff on multiple technical details. Commissioners asked whether the 10-acre minimum and the five-year reuse limit were appropriate for parcels in the town’s Low Density Residential district, and whether requiring perpetual affordability would deter property owners or developers. “There is this concept of naturally affordable and part of it is having a small unit,” said Friederike Keating, a member of the Small House Incentives working group, who warned that strict perpetual-affordability covenants could limit interest in the program. Chris Brown said he worried that an affordability mandate set at the town’s 100% AMI standard might be too high a bar and could discourage applicants.

Commissioners also debated three recommended site layouts: Farmstead (preferred), Edge Field (secondary), and an “out‑of‑sight” option the working group ranked lowest. Several members, including Chair Susan Bresee, said the out‑of‑sight option risks fragmenting forest blocks and asked staff to rework or replace it; others, including Commissioner Erik Glitman, argued for retaining flexibility for landowners when field or lot constraints make the preferred patterns infeasible. “If the farmstead model can accommodate both field and wooded-edge sites, maybe we don’t need a third layout as shown now,” Bresee said.

Shaheen also reported eligibility estimates for parcels: limiting Small House PUDs to parcels on paved roads would yield about 101 eligible lots, while including gravel-road parcels would add 56 more for a total of 157 eligible parcels. He told the commission that staff will prepare a redline draft before the July 21 meeting and that the project’s public outreach will include an open house on August 4 (likely in lieu of that meeting), a tentative August 18 meeting status to be decided after the open house, a required public hearing on September 1, an informal Saturday open house on September 12, and a second required hearing on September 15.

The commission asked staff to clarify several implementation questions before formal drafting: how an existing dwelling on an eligible parcel would be integrated into a cluster; whether the five-year limit attaches to a deed or to the originating subdivision date; how septic placement and allowed agricultural uses on recorded open space would interact; and whether driveway/curb‑cut standards should require input from the Underhill‑Jericho Fire Department. Shaheen agreed to pursue those clarifications with relevant departments and return redlined language to the commission.

There was no vote to adopt regulations at the July 7 session. The commission approved the June 16 minutes by a 6-0-0 vote and later unanimously approved adjournment. Staff will bring a redline and refined recommendations back to the commission for review on July 21 and conduct the planned August and September public outreach and hearings.