Bigger store law will go to voters
Toolbox
By PATRICK McARDLE Herald Staff - Published: January 2, 2009
MANCHESTER — Voters will be presented with a zoning amendment on Town Meeting Day in March that would allow retail stores to grow as large as 15,000 square feet on Depot Street and up to 7,000 square feet on Route 7A.
Select Board Chairman Ivan Beattie said at a meeting earlier in December board members didn't believe a zoning amendment could be presented directly to voters.
Before Tuesday's meeting, however, the Select Board sought opinions from Vermont Secretary of State Deborah Markowitz and the town's attorney, Robert Woolmington.
Beattie said he thought there were a few reasons to bring the amendment to voters.
"First of all, the opposition already made it very clear that if we passed the amendment, they would seek a petition to bring it to voters at a town meeting anyway. This allows us to put it on the ballot on our own terms. Also, this is a concession to the fact that it probably needed to go to the voters. I guess it is somewhat controversial," he said.
The state law that the Select Board is using to bring the zoning change to town meeting is a recent change. Language that says a bylaw amendment can be "warned for adoption by the municipality by Australian ballot at a special or regular meeting of the municipality" was signed into law in May.
The zoning amendment allows certain retail businesses downtown to be larger than the existing cap of 3,000 square feet. Stores along the commercial corridor of Route 7A, called Main Street in Manchester, could be as large as 7,000 square feet while stores along the commercial corridor of Routes 1-1/30, known as Depot Street in Manchester, could be as large as 15,000 square feet.
In order to qualify for larger retail space, a developer would have to meet goals set forth in Manchester's town plan, like keeping retail stores close to the street or adding green space.
The largest incentive space is reserved for developers who created a mixed-use building, with the town looking for a second floor devoted to housing as a way of bringing residential living into downtown.
Manchester Planning Director and Zoning Administrator Lee Krohn said the proposed zoning changes reflected the reality that many retailers didn't believe they could be commercially successful with only 3,000 square feet of space. It also meets goals in the town plan to encourage retail development in the commercial corridor and avoid sprawl.
There has been some criticism at recent meetings of the Select Board and Planning Commission that allowing larger retail spaces would force out small, locally owned stores, but at a meeting in December, Ed Morrow, founder of the Northshire Bookstore, and Ken Ax, owner of Brook Valley Appliance, supported the zoning change.
Beattie said while the final wording of the ballot items has not been set, the zoning changes will be warned as two separate articles, one dealing with proposed changes on Main Street and the other on Depot Street.
The two articles are likely to be the subject of lengthy discussions at Manchester's floor meeting, which takes place on the Saturday before Town Meeting Day, Beattie said.
Voting on the articles, however, will be by Australian ballot on Town Meeting Day, the same day voters choose elected officials and cast ballots for or against the Manchester Elementary-Middle School budget.
If the Select Board had approved the zoning amendment, it could have been brought to a special town meeting if petitions signed by at least 5 percent of Manchester's registered voters were submitted to the town clerk within 20 days of the Select Board's action.
Select Board members at a meeting on Dec. 2 said they wanted the zoning amendment to come to voters during the scheduled town meeting instead of a special town meeting because it would be less expensive and because attendance at the scheduled town meeting is usually higher than at a special town meeting.
Contact Patrick McArdle at patrick.mcardle@rutlandherald.com.
13