Montgomery commission debates cap on multi‑unit buildings in Village I and II

The Montgomery Planning Commission on Sept. 30 continued its review of zoning regulations for Village I and II, focusing on how many dwelling units should be allowed in multi‑unit buildings. Patrick Calecas, a member of the Planning Commission, opened the discussion and asked the public and commissioners what the maximum number of units should be, noting Regional Planning had proposed "12 units."

Commissioners’ initial reactions ranged from 4 to 9 units as acceptable maximums. Alissa Hardy noted that the Northwest Regional Planning Committee proposed 12 but emphasized the town did not need to adopt that number. Emily KloƯt of the Northwest Regional Planning Committee said the 12‑unit figure came from choices other small Franklin County downtowns have made.

Public commenters largely favored smaller caps: multiple speakers advocated a "4 unit max," some proposed "6 unit max," and several suggested hybrid approaches that would treat smaller buildings differently from larger ones (for example, permitting 4‑unit buildings with administrative review and reserving conditional use review for larger developments). Commenters also raised infrastructure limits—specifically that the wastewater system has "finite capacity"—and neighborhood concerns such as noise from generators and possible downward pressure on property values.

The Commission did not set a final numeric cap at the meeting. Instead members recorded a range of public preferences, noted infrastructure constraints, and scheduled further discussion with the Design Review Board (DRB) and additional follow‑up information from regional staff. The next meeting will either welcome DRB members to discuss site plan review and unit caps or continue the zoning review if the DRB cannot attend.