Planner: Riverside wastewater options could substantially increase housing capacity

Chris Shaheen updated the commission on the wastewater task force’s preliminary engineering work and development scenarios for a Riverside study area bounded by Vermont 15, Park Street and River Road. He said baseline data show about 38 dwelling units in the study triangle (32 single‑family homes and six apartments) and that, with shared community systems or municipal wastewater, the moderate‑buildout scenarios his team is modeling could allow well over 200 dwelling units depending on final effluent disposal locations.

During the exchange a commissioner summarized the implication plainly: "With a municipal wastewater system, we can double the amount of dwellings that can be supported," after which Shaheen cautioned that the numbers were preliminary and that the engineering team would have more precise capacity estimates in a few weeks. Shaheen also noted that the town is requesting disposal sites outside the river corridor per state guidance and that locating fields outside the corridor may still achieve near the same capacity.