SOUTH HERO DEVELOPMENT REVIEW BOARD MINUTES March 11, 2026
Members Present: Doug Patterson (Chair); Jim Brightwell (Vice-Chair); Liza Kilcoyne; Gareth Hunt (via Zoom); Tim Mullen; Sherry Dupont (via Zoom)
Others Present: Steve Robinson; Sam Belevance; Joe Brigante; Martha Taylor-Varney (ZA)
7:00 – D. Patterson called the meeting to order. The Board was introduced.
Changes to the Agenda
No changes.
Public Input
There was none.
Site Plan Review for a change of use for retail and professional services – Sunset Lake Enterprises, LLC (26-47-RT334)
7:05PM — The warning was read and interested persons were sworn in. Sam Belevance presented the application to the Board.
Sam told the Board that he is the owner of Sunset Lake Enterprises, LLC and has been a hemp and cannabis farmer for 6 years. In addition to his current retail site at 6 South St. and the farm at 169 South St., there are office employees currently in Essex., for a total of 20 employees. His intent with the purchase of the previous pharmacy building at 334 US RT 2 is to move the retail space there from South St. and have office space to replace those in Essex, thereby having all 20 employees spread throughout their facilities in South Hero.
T. Mullen—This will be for office space and retail only? No manufacturing? Sam Belevance—No manufacturing there. We are retaining the building at 6 South St. for that since there is adequate septic there. That location is currently both retail and manufacturing.
L. Kilcoyne – It will be great to see that building in use again. What are your proposed hours? We are asking for 9AM to 7PM, 7-days/wk. Our hours will be more limited than that at times as it often depends on the season as to when we will be busier. We want to have the ability to increase or reduce hours depending on how busy we are. These hours are the maximum we would ever want.
J. Brightwell – Considering the existing parking area, how many employees will be in the building? What do you anticipate customer traffic to be? There will be 11 employees in the building, at most. The 20 employees will not be all in one place. The typical average number of transactions a day is 45. With this move we hope to increase that to 50-55. There is a seasonal swing, with 85-90 transactions/day possible in the summer. We’re hoping that a RT 2 location will increase traffic.
D. Patterson – When is peak traffic time? Thursdays and Fridays from 4 to 6 is the busiest time. Also Saturday morning and later in the day – not midday.
L. Kilcoyne – When this was a pharmacy the parking lot was never very busy.
Steve Robinson – I am n full support of the proposal.
Joe Brigante – This is a good fit for the building.
D. Patterson – I’d like to see the proposed retail floorspace shown on the site plan. Is the existing lighting in the parking lot functional? Joe Brigante — I believe so. The exterior lights on the building work. Sam – The building is secure and has a vault fire escape, storage, etc. It has everything we need for this use.
L. Kilcoyne – One request, please. Can you clean up the sign area above the door? Yes. We plan to make improvements to the outside, including landscaping and aesthetic improvements to the building. We will have a free-standing sign, but it will not be internally lit. Possibly lit from above. There will also be a sign on the building.
S. Dupont – Are there any neon signs? We have one but it will be inside the building and will only be lit when the business is open.
** J. Brightwell moved to accept the site plan as complete; T. Mullen second. All in favor.
7:25PM – D. Patterson closed the hearing.
Review of Minutes
L. Kilcoyne moved to accept the minutes of February 25, 2026; T. Mullen second. All in favor.
Administrator’s Report
- There are no upcoming hearings on the schedule, at this time. The next meeting on March 25 will be a short business meeting and a deliberation to finalize the decision for tonight’s hearing.
- Open Meeting Law requires annual training for Board Chairs. Martha will send the link to Doug Patterson and Jim Brightwell to complete the training online.
- Ethics Training is required for all board members every 3 years. The only member who has not completed it is new Alternate Justin Myers. N Martha will send the link to him to complete the training online.
- The Zoning office will be closed March 19 and 23, and April 28.
Adjournment
7:32PM – L. Kilcoyne moved to adjourn and move to deliberative; J. Brightwell second. All in favor.
Respectfully submitted,
Martha Taylor-Varney, ZA
Signed: ___________________________________ Date: ___________________________
For the DRB
These minutes are unofficial until approved at the next regularly scheduled meeting. All motions were unanimous unless otherwise indicated.