Finally, a look at East and West Village Project update
Back in March, during the public forums held by the Charlotte East and West Villages steering committee addressing future growth, many voiced their opinions at these forums and on Front Porch Forum. Their opinions ranged from keeping the town the way it is, to needing to develop strategies to reduce rural sprawl and increase village growth. Growth and change will come, it is inevitable; we should plan and direct it rather than react to it.
On Wednesday evening, July 11, Emily Lewis, landscape architect with Dubois and King, presented preliminary, broad-brush findings of Charlotte’s East and West Village project. DuBois and King, along with some Charlotte Planning Commission members, energy commission members and the Chittenden Regional Planning Commission comprise the project steering committee. The project committee’s work began in September 2023 and is scheduled to conclude in April 2025.
The town’s website says the goal of the project is “an examination of future development and multi-modal transportation in Charlotte’s villages, informed by planning efforts and community input.”
It goes on to say: “Charlotte seeks to build upon its recent state designation of two village centers by doing a ‘deep dive’ into its land use regulations to identify and remove zoning barriers, and evaluate needed infrastructure to enable higher density development (including affordable housing) in the two historic villages of this rural community.”
According to Larry Lewack, town planner, the overwhelming sentiment from outreach was that 3-10 percent wanted no growth while at least 90 percent said they wanted some development in the village districts.
The presentation culminated in visual representations of potential development in the village districts in three steps: the addition of accessory dwelling units, then single-family homes, and finally, the addition of multi-family units. The report also provided examples of public spaces, community buildings and facilities, multi-modal transportation and village connections. In addition, there were pictures of sidewalks, road calming, trails and commuter parking.
The presentation concluded with various options for wastewater disposal and water supply in the villages, from smaller, localized options to larger municipal systems.
There was considerable discussion concerning what is practical and what is aspirational in this endeavor.
“The plan needs to tell a story,” Lewack said. “What’s needed is a narrative to tie it all together.”
Two important questions emerged during the presentation: What is the plan trying to convey and how will townspeople react?
What became evident was that the project steering committee was reluctant to share their findings after this presentation for fear that the community’s reaction to the full build-out would be negative. In fact, because of the level of concern, the project team decided to remove this first draft from the website.
For the most part, development in the village districts has been a fraught subject. Historically, in almost every instance over the last 15 years, development in the villages has been stymied for various reasons including questions about adequate water supply, septic capacity and concerns about diluting the historic village character and increased traffic.
Important questions remain: who decides what, and how much development occurs in the village districts and how to stem the tide of continued development in the rural district. It is a town-wide issue requiring town-wide commitment to goals for the future.
This Charlotte East and West Village plan is comprehensive, inclusive and what is needed to develop strategies for future development. The question remains: Will we react to the future, or plan for it?
Next on the agenda, the project steering committee plans to revise and update the report, then draft bylaw modifications to the land-use regulations and town plan to support the findings, followed by a town-wide educational outreach campaign. The committee said this revised report will be available in mid-August.
(Peter Joslin is a member of the board of directors of The Charlotte News. The views expressed here are his own and not necessarily those of the board or the organization.)