Land Use Development Regulations
A new organization, Warren Residents for Responsible Cell Tower Siting and Development, is committed to educating Mad River Valley residents about appropriate development of cell towers and related infrastructure. Importantly, this includes strengthening Warren Planning Commission’s proposed revised Land Use and Development Regulations (LUDRs) to protect our community.
Questions have been raised by both Warren residents and the Planning Commission regarding whether important protections for cell tower development and siting were omitted from the proposed revised LUDRs.
In order to allow everyone to make informed decisions, Warren Residents for Responsible Cell Tower Siting and Development engaged two professionals: a Certified Land Use Planner and a Vermont Land Use attorney experienced in Telecommunications Tower permitting, to conduct a detailed analysis of the existing LUDRs versus the proposed revised LUDRs. A chart summarizing their findings is below.
In light of these findings, we firmly believe that the provisions omitted from the proposed revised LUDRs need to be reinstated. Furthermore, we support updating the telecom provisions to take account of changes in the state regulatory framework as well as advances in technology that have occurred since the existing LUDRs were written in 2010. It should be noted that numerous other Vermont towns, including neighboring Waitsfield, have strengthened their telecom provisions over the past decade including more rigorous requirements regarding co-location, height limitations, and set-backs.
In the coming days, we will provide the Selectboard with a Redline-Strikeout version of our Proposed Revision to the PC’s Proposed Amended LUDRs which will restore the omitted provisions and insert additional protections — recently adopted by many other Vermont towns — that we believe are critical to protect our Warren community. Once we submit the Redline-Strikeout Revisions to the Selectboard, which will be available on our website, we plan to hold a webinar on our work prior to the Selectboard’s February 14th Hearing and will send out a save-the-date notice shortly.
Comparison of Current and Proposed LUDRs
The following chart highlights some of the important proposed changes to the Current (2010) Town of Warren Land Use Development Regulations (LUDRs) presented to the Selectboard Nov 8, 2022 by the Planning Commission (PC). The PC’s proposed changes to the LUDRs omit several key provisions contained in the current law which should be restored to the Proposed LUDRs as recommended by the “Suggested Revisions” column.
| Telecommunication Towers Zoning provisions | Current law 2010 LUDRs Section 4.181 | PC Proposed 2022 LUDRs2 Section 3223 | Suggested Revisions to PC’s Proposed LUDRs |
|---|---|---|---|
| Height Restrictions | 200 feet | None | 100 feet or 20 feet above treetops |
| Prohibited Locations | Hilltops Ridgelines 12 districts: RR, WVT, SVR, VR, AVR, SVC, GFC, ARC, WVC, AC, BMC, FHO & MO FR east of Rt 100 | None None 4 districts: VB, VMU, VR, RES None None | Hilltops Ridgelines 4 districts: VB, VMU, VR & RES. RP3 east of Rt 100 |
| Permitted Use (Towers would be allowed “as of right”) | None | 2 districts: FR & RMU | None |
| Conditional Use (Towers permitted only with DRB review, approval & conditions) | 2 districts: FR & VR | 4 districts: RL, RP, RR, GB | 6 districts: FR, RMU, RL, RP, RR, GB |
| Removal/remediation | Required | None | Required |
1 The 2010 Version of the LUDRs, Section 4.18 replaced the 2008 Version of the LUDRs, Section 4.17. While the 2008 Section 4.17 is no longer operative law, it apparently was not removed from Article 4 in 2010 when Section 4.18 was enacted. Therefore Section 4.17 is superfluous language and should not be used for comparison purposes.
2 The Proposed LUDRs replace the current zoning districts and map in their entirety.
3 The Proposed Resource Protection District (RP) encompasses the Current Forest Reserve (FR) District.