Back to homepage Newfane Elementary School Telephone Directory events calendar school board meetings Newfane Business Association Meeting schedules Area Guide Board of Selectmen
 

Board of Selectmen Meeting Minutes

Any and all corrections to the following minutes will be made at the 04/15/04 Board of Selectmen's meeting and are considered unapproved until then. Corrections will be noted in the minutes of that meeting.

MINUTES - SPECIAL MEETING - BOARD OF SELECTMEN
APRIL 8th, 2004
NEWFANE TOWN OFFICE

PRESENT:
Selectmen: Piet van Loon, Carleton Chaffee, Priscilla Cotton, and Gary Katz.
Absent: Chris Williams
Also Present: Newfane Planning Commission - John Feifel, Gunther Garbe, David Cotton and Jim Spencer. Zoning Board of Adjustment - David Clarkson, Edward Nelson and Susan Keese. Member of the Public - Carolyn Katz. Brattleboro Reformer - Mike Kalil.

1. CALL TO ORDER
The meeting was called to order by Chairman Piet van Loon at 7:00 p.m.

2. DEVELOPMENT REVIEW BOARD
The Newfane Selectboard is again considering establishing a Development Review Board. This matter has been discussed in the past with no consensus being reached. The duties of the DRB are to hear appeals, variance and conditional use reviews now heard by the Zoning Board of Adjustment. The DRB would also assume the site plan review function of the Planning Commission. The ZBA would cease to exist. The Planning Commission would then be able to concentrate on planning projects such as the Town Plan update, zoning and subdivision bylaws, and other planning projects that may come up. Having a DRB would help to streamline the local permitting process for applicants. And put the review authority and responsibility before a single review board.
A DRB is made up of a minimum of five members and up to four alternates. The alternates could also be members of the Planning Commission. The workload may increase for the DRB. This past year, the ZBA handled 16 applicants while the PC had 8 site visits. The DRB also needs the assistance of a secretary to take care of the warnings, minutes and other related duties.
Those present asked various questions about the pros and cons of forming a DRB. The consensus of a majority of those present are in favor of forming a Development Review Board. A DRB is created by the Selectboard. It would take some time to make the changes in the wording of the current Newfane Zoning Bylaw to incorporate language to change to a DRB.
The Selectboard will discuss the forming of a DRB for Newfane at the next meeting scheduled for Thursday, April 15th. Those present were thanked for their participation and thoughtful questions regarding the forming of a DRB for Newfane.

3. TO TRANSACT ANY OTHER BUSINESS THAT MAY LEGALLY COME BEFORE THE MEETING - No other business came before the Board.

4. ADJOURNMENT
Motion was made by C. Chaffee and seconded by P. Cotton to adjourn the Special Meeting of the Board at 8:30 p.m. Unanimous.


Doris A. Knechtel, Administrative Assistant
Newfane Board of Selectmen

Posted: Town Clerk's Office, Newfane Store, Williamsville General Store, and South Newfane General Store & Deli.
www.newfanevt.com

Back to top


back to homepage



Town Offices:
Route 30, P.O. Box 36, Newfane VT 05345, Tel. (802) 365-7772

Please send all comments, suggestions and questions to info@newfanevt.com