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Residents urge caution on housing overlay, citing water and historic preservation concerns
Summary
During public comment, residents pressed the board to address groundwater and historic-district impacts before approving a zoning overlay to encourage missing-middle housing; the board said the overlay helps secure grant funding for water infrastructure and design guidelines remain in place for smaller projects.
Several residents, including Gary Tetreault (speaker S5), urged the board to consider groundwater availability, the absence of public water, and preservation of historic Main Street character before advancing a zoning overlay that would enable more multi-unit “missing middle” housing. Tetreault said the hamlet “does not have the water” and urged careful sequencing of water-availability fixes before expanded development.
Board members and other participants responded that the overlay is intended to support grant applications and infrastructure projects (including a planned water-district study), and they stressed that design guidelines, planning-board review, and certificate-of-appropriateness requirements remain in place for many projects. The board said the proposal will be refined in meetings with the planner (Ted Fink) and with additional public meetings scheduled in mid-September.
