SOUTH HERO DEVELOPMENT REVIEW BOARD July 9, 2025
Members Present: Tim Maxham (Chair); Doug Patterson (Vice-Chair); Jim Brightwell; Gareth Hunt; Mike Welch; Nate Hayward (via Zoom); Tim Mullen (Alternate, via Zoom).
Others Present: Phelan O’Connor; Jay Buermann; Rebekah Chorigo (via Zoom); Martha Taylor-Varney (ZA).
7:00PM – Vice-Chair D. Patterson opened the meeting and introduced the Board.
Changes to the Agenda
Approval of Minutes and Administrator’s Report (Items 5 and 6) moved earlier on the agenda while waiting for the Chair to arrive.
Public Input
There was none.
Review of June 11, 2025 Minutes
- Hunt moved to accept the minutes of June 11, 2025, as written; M. Welch second. All in favor.
Administrator’s Report
- Schedule: July 23, 2025 — 1 hearing (setback waiver); August 13, 2025 – Site Plan review for Town Park.
- The Board discussed options for a 1.4-acre lot in the Shoreland zoning district with a year-round home and 2 seasonal dwellings – PUD? Accessory dwelling? The lot is too small to subdivide (3/4-acre minimum lot size allowed). Combine the two seasonal cabins into a year-round accessory dwelling?
- Patterson and J. Brightwell signed the DRB’s 2025 Rules of Procedure [signed by other members at the last meeting].
Setback Waiver – Tyson and Seana Pritchard (#25-68-GF037), to add living space within the setback.
7:13PM – The hearing was opened. D. Patterson recused from this hearing as he is a neighbor on Gifford Lane.
The warning was read, and the Applicants’ representative was sworn in. Jay Buermann of Buermann Engineering represented the Applicants at the hearing. There is a 2BR seasonal dwelling on the property, a detached garage, and a small shed adjacent to the dwelling. The garage is conforming to the setback (17 feet). The Applicants propose to move the shed to a conforming area in the southeast corner of the lot – no closer to the boundaries than 15 feet. The pre-existing, non-conforming dwelling is 65 feet from the mean level of the lake at its closest point (measured from the roofline of the dwelling). It sits slightly angled to the lakefront. A stockade fence extends along the south boundary of the lot.
The Applicants are proposing to extend the south face of the structure about 12 feet to allow for the existing bedrooms to be moved into the new space. There will be no increase in the number of bedrooms and the existing septic will continue to be used. The increase in floor space will extend into the lake setback and will be even with the existing west (lake) face of the structure. Because of the structure’s orientation to the lake, the distance from the lake to the addition will decrease to 63 feet. The addition will add 118 feet to the non-conforming space outside the building envelope, with an additional 11sf that is closer to the mean lake level than the existing non-conforming space. The new construction will be conforming to all other setbacks (the closest is 26 feet from the south boundary).
The draft Shoreland Protection permit expired today (July 9th) and Jay Buermann anticipates that the final permit will be issued within a couple of days. The neighbor to the north, Marion Palermo, told the zoning administrator last week that she had no objections to the addition, but was concerned if a new well is put in due to water quality. Jay Buermann said that he anticipated that the existing water supply from the lake would continue and that the dwelling would continue to be seasonal.
- Maxham reminded the Board that setback waivers require the Board to determine if the application would create an undue adverse effect. Is the requested waiver for the 118 feet of additional non-conforming space? Yes.
There were no questions from the public. The hearing was closed at 7:32PM.
Conditional Use/Site Plan review – Pigasus (#25-71-ES020), for an accessory on-farm use (cooking events)
7:33 PM — T. Maxham opened the hearing. Vice-Chair D. Patterson rejoined the Board for this hearing. The warning was read, and the Applicant was sworn in.
Phelan O’Connor presented the application to the Board. He told the Board that his farm, Pigasus, is asking to host a prepared food event every other Sunday from 9AM to 1PM, from May through October. This would be serving sandwiches using pork produced on the farm, as they have successfully done at the Burlington Farmers’ Market since 2014. Coffee and water will also be available, but no other vendors will take part. He would also like to eventually incorporate a farm tour at the same time. There are no plans for outdoor music currently. The event would be held on the parcel of the 169-acre farm on the north side of Landon Rd. Parking will be on top of the hill with an entrance from Landon Rd., west of the East Shore Rd./Landon Rd. intersection. The event area will be a tent and picnic tables set up down the hill, next to the Landon Trail Head parking area. No power will be needed. Stoves are propane.
There will be a mowed path from the main parking area to the food event. HC parking will be available at the trail head parking lot, next to the food tent. This will also still be available to hikers visiting the Landon Trail. A hay wagon may be available in the future to ferry people from the upper parking area, but no plans have yet been made. Signage for parking will direct customers to the parking entrance, and there was discussion about placing cones in the center of the road coming up the hill from the west to warn drivers of the parking entrance on the days of the event. There are concerns about safety and limited sight distances in that section of Landon Rd. due to speed and the proximity of the hill to the field entrance. No visitors will be allowed on the farm parcel south of Landon Rd. There will be no parking allowed on the road.
Tim Maxham – How many employees? There will be 3. Usually only 2 are needed for cooking. An additional person could be available to direct traffic or help with parking.
Is the Landon Trail [conserved land] on Pigasus property? Yes. The South Hero and Champlain Islands Land Trusts support the application.
Doug Patterson – Did you already have a dry run? Yes, and it went well. The parking and mowed path were in the same place as shown on the site plan. It went well. The mowed path may be moved occasionally if there are wet conditions or to better follow the contours of the hill. The path now is steep.
Jim Brightwell – Have you considered providing parking closer to the food tent? Closer areas are generally wet, and we want to minimize any cars getting stuck. Both the lower part of the parking field, and the field north of the Landon Trail parking lot are wet.
***Mike Welch moved to waive the requirement to show contours on the site plan; Gareth Hunt second. All in favor.
The Board asked for the following to be added to the site plan and presented to ZA Martha Taylor-Varney for approval:
- Names of owners of adjoining properties;
- Locations of existing and proposed structures and facilities;
- Trash receptacles;
- Porta-let locations;
- Tent location;
- Picnic tables/blankets;
8:22PM – The hearing was closed.
Adjournment
- Hunt moved to adjourn, D. Patterson second. All in favor.
Respectfully submitted,
Martha Taylor-Varney, ZA
Signed: ___________________________________________ Date: _____________________
For the Development Review Board
These minutes are unofficial until approved at the next regularly scheduled meeting. All motions were unanimous unless otherwise indicated.