SOUTH HERO PLANNING COMMISSION MINUTES August 19, 2026
Members Present: Don Bedard (Chair); Joan Falcao (Vice-Chair); Michele Gammal; Marian Fritz.
Other Present: Martha Taylor-Varney (ZA)
6:00 PM – D. Bedard opened the meeting.
Changes to the Agenda
There were no changes.
Public Comment
There was no public attending.
New Business
Review draft of new Planning Commission Rules of Procedure: Planning Commission Rules of Procedure are required to be signed annually by the Commission members. The recent Rules document still contained references to when the Commission had review responsibilities for site plan and subdivision review (now conducted by the DRB). A new procedures template, from Vermont League of Cities and Towns, reflects the Commissions current responsibilities and includes specific references to Open Meeting Law. The Commission members reviewed the draft document, making edits and some deletions. Chair D. Bedard will produce the final document for the Commissioners’ signatures at the next meeting.
Old Business
Review Edited pages of the Development Regulations – Measuring Height and Setbacks: ZA Martha Taylor-Varney presented the Commission with edits of the current Development Regulations reflecting the new and/or added language. The section on Measuring Height (Article 2) had not been corrected and will be presented at the next meeting. D. Bedard is working on updating the drawing in Figure 2.1 (Measuring Height) to better reflect the proposed updates and will have that at the next meeting. A definition for “as built certification”, that would require professional certification of building height by an engineer or surveyor if, at time of application, the height is deemed to be at risk of exceeding the height limitations, is being added to Article 10 (Definitions). The definition of Natural Grade has also been updated, and references to Pre-Construction Grade” have been deleted.
Meeting Minutes – August 5, 2026
J. Falcao moved to approve the minutes from August 5, 2026, with correction (typo); M. Gammal second. All in favor.
Administrator’s Report
Martha will be attending a Zoning Roundtable in St. Albans on Thursday, August 20, sponsored by Northwest Regional Planning. She will have a more detailed report of the meeting at the next meeting.
Announcements
- Meeting House – At last report, the Meeting House Committee reports that the building will be placed back on its new foundation by the end of the month.
- Town Office Committee – the construction is on schedule. Move in will be at the end of October/beginning of November. The election on November 3rd will be moved to the South Hero Congregational Church. Town Clerk Naomi King has announced that the Town Office will be closed for a week to facilitate the move and last-minute connections for tech.
- Lavin Property Planning Committee – Bedard reported that 40 people attended the visioning workshop at Folsom School on August 18. Ideas related to housing, mixed-use buildings (commercial and residential), rec trails, wetlands, and wastewater were discussed. After a recent wetlands delineation, it has been determined that there are about 30 acres available for development of some kind. The next steps include a possible survey and another meeting, at which the results of the August 18 discussions will be further clarified in a report by NRPC.
Adjournment
7:28PM – M. Fritz moved to adjourn; J. Falcao second. All in favor.
Respectfully submitted,
Martha Taylor-Varney, ZA
Signed: _____________________________________ Date: ___________________________
For the Planning Commission
These minutes are unofficial until approved at the next regularly scheduled meeting. All motions were unanimous unless otherwise indicated.