Last Wednesday, Nov. 19, the Pomfret Selectboard presented to the public its much-anticipated Town Plan, released more than a year behind schedule. The plan is intended to be a visionary document — versus a binding document — for the town’s next eight years. Turnout was high and participation vigorous, as town citizens voiced questions and concerns about issues ranging from affordable housing, to land use, to preserving the rural character of Pomfret. The selectboard will now deliberate — considering the public feedback, and also weighing it against the planning requirements required by the state of Vermont as it plans its next steps for implementing the plan.
In a memo dated Nov. 14, and attached to the Nov. 19 selectboard meeting agenda, the Two Rivers-Ottauquechee Regional Commission (TRORC) — a political subdivision of the state and which serves as Pomfret’s regional commission, advising the town on how to best enact statutory planning requirements — listed several areas of the Pomfret Town Plan in need of attention in order for it to eventually meet statue and allow TRORC’s approval. Areas that need to be addressed, according to TRORC, include: future land use, forest blocks and habitat connectors, pedestrian and bicycle facilities for town areas of planned growth, conservation and renewable energy policies, as well as tangible encouragement of public participation in drafting and revising the plan, among others. The memo was written before the Nov. 19 hearing — at which the public certainly weighed in.
Benjamin Brickner serves as the current chair of the Pomfret Selectboard, and witnessed firsthand the energetic — even passionate — participation of town citizens. “We had robust community turnout, both in person and on Zoom, especially relative to a typical selectboard meeting. I think there were 26 members of the public total, in addition to the selectboard members. Those who showed up asked thoughtful questions about things like housing and land use and character preservation, and the interplay between local decision-making and regional planning.”
Peter Gregory is executive director of TRORC, and in his conversation this week with the Standard, he showed a keen awareness of the tensions between local and statewide interests — and not just in Pomfret. “New England and Vermont have a strong tradition of local control, which I support and encourage,” he said. “At the same time, the regional planning commission is charged by the state and by our member towns to interpret state and federal law and to help towns navigate through that in a way that works for them. Our role is to help them make their choices, and they have multiple choices as it relates to planning and zoning. Even having a town plan under Vermont statutes is voluntary.”
For more on this, please see our Nov. 26 edition of the Vermont Standard.
