SOUTH HERO DEVELOPMENT REVIEW BOARD MINUTES June 27, 2026
Members Present: Doug Patterson (Chair); Jim Brightwell (Vice-Chair); Liza Kilcoyne; Tim Mullen; Nate Hayward (via Zoom)
Members Absent: Gareth Hunt; Sherry Dupont (Alternate); Justin Myers (Alternate).
Public Present: Don Bedard (South Hero Planning Commission); Joan Falcao (South Hero Planning Commission); Martha Taylor-Varney (ZA).
7:05PM — D. Patterson opened the meeting.
Changes to the Agenda
There were no changes.
Public Comment
There was none.
New Business
- Meet with members of the Planning Commission to discuss proposed changes to the Development Regulations: Don Bedard explained that the Commission has been working on the Regulations’ updates for quite some time and want to wrap it up. They were at this meeting to discuss changes/edits that had been requested by the DRB related to measuring structure height, measuring setbacks, and defining “average natural grade.” Measuring structure height included requiring a licensed professional surveyor to confirm the height of a structure before a CO is issued. The Board agreed that, when measuring setbacks, any part of the structure that protrudes (balcony, bay window, eaves), may extend into the setback up to 30 inches. There was considerable discussion re “average natural grade” and how to determine what the ‘natural’ grade was if the land has already been altered. Perhaps considering what it was when the owner purchased it? Use LIDAR? Hayward offered to wordsmith these and it will be revisited at a later meeting.
- Request for amendment to a recent DRB setback waiver approval for Charlie Tipper: The Board agreed to move this to deliberation at the end of the business meeting.
Review of June 10, 2026 Minutes
L. Kilcoyne moved to approve the minutes of June 10, 2026; N. Hayward second. All in favor. [J. Brightwell took the minutes for the June 10 meeting. Thank you, Jim.]
Administrator’s Report
- There will be no meeting on July 8, 2026. The next meeting will be July 22, 2026 at 7PM, at which there will be 2 hearings scheduled.
Adjournment
8:07PM – J. Brightwell moved to adjourn and move to deliberation; L. Kilcoyne 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.