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Town
Of Weathersfield
Annual School and Town Report
Report of the Chair
Zoning Board of Adjustment
The Zoning Board of Adjustment has had a productive year, and by recent standards, a busy one as well. We have had stable membership, with good and constructive contributions by all our members: Graham Hunter, Chair; Elizabeth Deliso, Vice Chair; Michael Schmitz, Clerk; Westley Hazeltine; and Ted Goddard.
As the general populace of the Town of Weathersfield may or may not know, the Zoning Board of Adjustment (hereinafter, the ZBA), serves in support of the Zoning By-Laws. We only become involved in the permit process when there is an appeal of a decision by the Zoning Administrator/Land Use Administrator, or when the By-Laws indicate that the application in question involves a Conditional Use (if the use is 'Permitted' the Land Use Administrator issues the permit directly [though the project may still require a Site Plan Review by the Planning Commission]), or where the Applicant is appealing a decision of the Land Use Administrator.
The ZBA is a quasi-judicial board, meaning that the work that we do has the force of law. Our meetings must be properly warned and conducted in accordance with all applicable laws, and the testimony that we receive shall be sworn, or affirmed, as to its veracity. As such, the ZBA hearing process is serious business, and can be lengthy. We try to explain our processes to the applicants and the interested parties who come before us.
In the past year, the ZBA has attempted to streamline the Hearing/Decision continuum, to shorten the time between 'close of Hearing' and the issuance of our decision. We understand that for the applicant, the permit application process can be costly and nerve-wracking, and we are doing what we can to alleviate the stress associated with the ZBA portion of the process. That said, however, we cannot stress enough the responsibility that the ZBA has in enforcing our Zoning By-Laws, and by extension, in implementing our Town Plan.
In addition to our meetings to deal with applications, members of the ZBA attented training sessions put on by the SounthernWindsor County Regional Planning Commission and the Vermont League of Cities and Towns to learn about changes in the enabling legislation that undergirds the Town's Zoning By-Laws and about improving the public hearing process.
On behalf of the Weathersfield Zoning Board of Adjustment, I would like to thank former Zoning Administrator Lynn Skalaban for her many years of service to the Town and the ZBA, and I welcome the new Zoning/Land Use Administrator deForest Bearse. I also thank Diane Hodgdon for her fine work as Recording Secretary to the Board, for her making sense out of our somewhat disjointed recitation of the Findings of Fact, Conclusions of Law, etc. etc.
As always, we thank the Town for the opportunity to serve, to try to maintain and protect the 'character of the area affected', and to keep our town the caring and humane environment that brought us and keeps us all here.
Graham C. Hunter, II
Chair
Zoning Board of Adjustment