The Easton Planning & Zoning Commission plans to send its most recent draft of the 2018 Plan of Conservation and Development over to the town’s Board of Selectmen and other local agencies for a mandated 65-day review on Thursday, July 26.
P&Z Chair Robert Murat clarified that the commission can still modify the draft during that 65-day period, but any changes made must be communicated to the Board of Selectmen.
Murat said the commission’s decision to send out its draft of the 10-year plan by July 26 came after the members agreed that they had addressed all of the concerns with the initial plan, and on a proposed public hearing date of Oct. 1 at 7 p.m., which is the first weekday after the 65-day period.
During the Monday, July 23, meeting, commissioner Ray Martin shared a letter that he received from a resident stating that he was opposed to the town establishing a “village district,” while also offering some insight to other changes within the community that he would like to see.
The commission has been working to collect data from towns “comparable to Easton” in order to get a better understanding on how the village districts impact grand lists, according to Murat.
The P&Z stated at its July 12 meeting that it was in favor of using the state’s village district guidelines as a way to create a small commercial hub near the intersection of Sport Hill, Center and Banks roads, where the Easton Village Store and Silverman’s Farm now are located.
Within this letter addressed to Martin, the resident compared Easton to a community just outside of Atlanta, Ga., called, “Serenbe.”
While the P&Z members looked through a print out of the town’s website and admired some of its practices and use of land, Martin said he felt as though this letter revealed that some residents don’t understand the commissioners’ vision for the 10-year plan.
“As I look through this town that he’s pretty much in favor of, it’s pretty much our POCD,” said Martin while looking through the Serenbe printout. “This is pretty much everything we’ve been talking about for the past two years, on a more grandiose level I’ll say, but somehow our message is being miscommunicated to the general public.
P&Z alternate Tom Maisano said he would conduct more research to develop a more clear understanding of how Serenbe was before it was developed and how it has transformed.
As a means of addressing any remaining concerns or questions from the community, the commission agreed that it will upload its latest draft to the town website once it is received by the Board of Selectmen.
P&Z member Ross Ogden said one big difference between Serenbe and Easton is the designation and use of open space.
“I think their uses are more well-defined and less open-ended than what we are talking about,” said Ogden. “It surrounds the same thing, but ours leaves room for interpretation.”
Murat said he believes that the regulations used to enforce the town plan will help to address some of Ogden’s concerns.
“The POCD doesn’t have the details that the regulations do,” said Murat.
The P&Z chair said the commission is tasked with updating the POCD regulations before the Oct. 1 public hearing.