How Does the Town Plan Fit In with the Appeal?
When we updated the Concord Town Plan in 2022, it was clear that Concord citizens wanted Concord to remain rural. While updating the Town Plan in 2022, we held all-town meetings at the community center, and we sent a survey to every address in town. Concord citizens' wishes are reflected in both our original 2009 plan and the updated 2022 plan.
When we first started looking into appealing, our focus was on the Town Plan--that the rezoning was approved even though it was not consistent with the Town Plan and therefore didn't fit with Concord residents' desires for their town. As our lawyer looked into this, we discovered that the rezoning also conflicts with the County Plan, and that is the focus of the actual legal appeal. (The County Plan incorporates aspects of our Town Plan. For example, the hamlet map in the 2021 County Plan is based on that in the Town Plan.) Below is an explanation of why the rezoning at issue conflicts with the Town Plan. But we would not have appealed if it weren't for residents' wide support for the policies expressed in the Town Plan, a sense that the appeal speaks up on behalf of values that many residents share. So the Town Plan was key to motivating this appeal, even if it's not the focus of the appeal.
The rezoning of 7.4 acres of land at W1432 County Road B from A-1 (Agricultural Preservation) to A-2 (Agricultural Business) is not consistent with the 2009 Town of Concord Comprehensive Land Use Plan. (The plan that was in effect at the time of the rezone; it has since been updated. The new plan is available on Concord's website.
The Town of Concord Comprehensive Land Use Plan was adopted in 2009. Overwhelming input by Concord citizens to “keep Concord rural” and contain development, particularly in the area surrounding the I-94 / Hwy. F interchange, resulted in a plan that restricted new business development to the hamlet area.
THE ABOVE REZONING VIOLATES THE FOLLOWING TENETS IN CHAPTER 8 OF THE 2009 CONCORD LAND USE PLAN:
"The Town will evaluate conditional use applications and rezoning requests for new and expanding business ventures in relation to the anticipated impact on the Town’s rural character and quality of life" (p. 55).
The location of this A-2 zone in relation to nearby residential development makes the proposal unsuitable. This is not an industrial area but a rural community area. The proposed location of the new buildings is on a hill above a row of residential lots to the north along Hwy E. [as well as the residents along Hwy B.] A hilltop view of 10 large industrial type storage buildings would certainly have a negative impact for the nearby existing residential development. At the public hearing a number of neighbors voiced complaints about a smaller development by the same company. The company failed to maintain required screening, the nighttime lighting is extremely bright, and the business creates excessive year-round traffic, at times backing up traffic along County Road B and creating a hazardous situation. In addition, 40 residents signed a petition against the rezoning.
"The Town will limit the establishment of new businesses to areas within the Town of Concord rural hamlet as defined by the 1999 Jefferson County Agricultural Preservation and Land Use Plan (see map 10, Appendix A). An exception to this would be home occupations that operate under the current Jefferson County zoning guidelines" (p. 56).
The property in question is NOT in the hamlet area and therefore is inconsistent with the town plan as it creates a new business venture outside of the hamlet.
"The Town will not support expansion of the current rural hamlet or creation of new rural hamlet areas within the Town" (p. 56).
The property in question is located adjacent to and outside of the boundary of the hamlet area. Approving a business in this location effectively increases the size of the hamlet.