Planning Commission Hears Bethel Mills Re-Zoning Request

At its March 18 meeting, the Bethel Planning Commission heard Bethel Mills owner Lang Durfee explain his request to re-zone about 3/4 of an acre that the company owns on North Main Street, from residential to "village industrial.""

The property touches the Bethel Mills industrial facility on the south, and the residential property of Mary Pavone on the north, extending west to other property that is owned by the railroad.

Durfee noted that Bethel Mills has about 15 employees, has "been a good neighbor to the Bethel community," and is facing competition, forcing Bethel Mills to look for ways to increase its efficiency.

"Times change, and needs change," he said, adding that in view of the boundaries that circumscribe Bethel Mill’s facility, the river, the railroad, and Main Street itself, Durfee believes that the only place for his facility to expand is onto the contiguous property that it already owns on North Main Street.

According to Durfee, the previous owner of the property, Richard Mills, used a portion of it for storage, but once Bethel Mills, a commercial entity, acquired the property, a zoning change was required to use it for that purpose.  Durfee said that following advice from the Bethel town office, he first sought a variance to allow Bethel Mills to use the property to build a structure to store industrial materials. When the variance was denied, he decided to seek a zoning change, again under procedural advice from the town office.

Durfee noted that there is precedent for requesting zoning changes for commercial and industrial purposes. Bethel Mills itself got a change when it changed the scope of its activities, as did Vermont Castings and the grain mill.

During an earlier meeting of the planning commission in February, Pavone expressed opposition to the proposal.  Shs said she feared the impact on the neighborhood of a rezoning of the property.

Durfee emphatically disagreed that the character of the neighborhood would be affected by the company’s expansion onto the North Main St. property.

"I firmly believe that the character of a neighborhood is determined by what is already there,"" he said. 

Pavone pointed out that in the other cases of rezoning, which Durfee had cited as precedents, there had been no public opposition at the time, and that the rezoning did not affect character of the neighborhood. In this case, however, she and others in the neighborhood are definitely objecting.

Pavone called the planning commission’s attention to Vermont statutes which state that in cases of rezoning, the planning commission should produce a report which considers various factors. 

Don Bourdon of the Two Rivers-Ottauquechee Regional Planning Commission is helping the Bethel planning commission revise the town’s by-laws. He noted that the Vermont statutes do not require such consideration: "it uses the word ‘should’" not ‘shall.’"

"Bethel Commission chair Craig Wortman, said they would consider all aspects of the matter.  

Durfee noted that Bethel Mills has no plans at this time to tear down the existing house situated on the property, and has no specific agenda as to how Bethel Mills would use the property. 

"We don’t know exactly what we will do on the land," he said. "All we know is that right now we can’t use it for our business." He did not rule out eventually tearing down the house. 

Planning commissioner Carla Hodgdon noted that if the area were re-zoned for industrial use, then Bethel Mills would have to seek a variance if it wants to keep the house as a residence.

The planning commission agreed that the next step would be a site visit to allow the commissioners to see the property first hand, this Saturday, March 22 at 8 a.m. The commission is required to hold a public hearing before deliberating and forwarding its recommendations to the selectboard. Since the commission is currently considering numerous other changes to Bethel’s by-laws, they have tentatively decided to include in them any recommended zoning change pertaining to Bethel Mills’ request, and consider all changes together at a single public hearing this spring.

By Chris Costanzo