The Wilton Planning Board is proposing to eliminate heavy manufacturing uses in the town’s designated industrial zone.
The amendment to the town zoning code is one of four changes proposed this year, which were presented to residents in a well-attended public hearing on Wednesday night.
The updates include changes to the age limits for elderly housing, new ordinances regulating solar arrays, and updating its definition of wetlands.
Several people who attended Wednesday night’s meeting were also attendees at a recent public hearing process at the Zoning Board of Adjustment for a variance request to allow an asphalt plant and silo in the industrial zone. The variance was for the height of the plant and silo, but many residents raised concerns about the use itself, including complaints about potential emissions, smell, lighting and noise.
The Planning Board, in documents pertaining to the proposed amendments, have stated that many heavy manufacturing uses don’t comply with the town’s standards in other areas of the ordinance, or are inconsistent with the town’s master plan.
The proposed amendment would eliminate heavy industrial uses, which includes the processing of raw materials or chemicals. It also includes manufacturing that could “reasonably be expected to adversely affect surrounding properties,” and manufacturing involving petroleum, chemicals or related materials.
The proposed changes would better reflect the town’s master plan, according to the board.
Susan Brown, a resident of Lyndeborough who owns multiple pieces of property in Wilton near the industrial zone and who opposed the asphalt plant, said she approved of the changes.
“I’m really in support of what you’re doing,” Brown said.
The board is also proposing other changes to the ordinance, such as one that would add provisions for regulating both roof and ground-mounted solar arrays.
The board would update the ordinance’s definition of “wetlands” and add a definition for “wetland-related areas.” It would update the ordinance to include protections for areas which might not meet the statutory definition, but are “intuitively understood” to be wetlands, such as swamps, marshes, seasonal pools and shorelands.
The town is also proposing to adjust its age restriction for developments in the elderly housing district. It would increase the required age restriction in the Age-restricted Housing District from 60 to 62, because many Federal and State requirements for age-restricted housing begin either at age 55 or age 62.
Planning Board member Alec MacMartin clarified that there are provisions in the ordinance already that would allow a developer to create cluster developments that meet the standards for 55-or-older housing.
“That’s an option that’s still open to them,” MacMartin said.
In another proposed change, the town would have a set schedule for the board to review and update its impact fees. All systems, except wholly roof-mounted residential systems, would be subject to a site plan review process. The requirements for systems would vary based on their size, land coverage and energy generation, as well as whether they are generating energy for a commercial, residential or industrial use.
The ordinance is not meant to be restrictive, Planning Board member Karon Walker said.
“We want to support the state in its support of alternative energy,” she said.
Zoning changes must be approved by a majority of voters at the ballot in March.
Planners will take up the issue again on Jan. 8 at the Town Hall.