Wilton is proposing five changes to the town’s zoning code this year, including adopting a standard maximum height for structures across all zoning districts, making rules around multiple home occupations on a single property and allowed locations of age-restricted housing.
The height restriction would limit structures to a maximum of 45 feet. Several districts already have a maximum standard of either 45 feet or two stories. Caleb Cheng, a planner with the Nashua Regional Planning Commission who provides consulting services for the town, said 45 feet is a more-concrete standard than number of stories, and is the height reachable by the town’s current fire equipment.
The 45-foot standard would be added to the residential, general residence and agricultural, commercial district and downtown commercial districts. The town’s other districts, the industrial and research and office park districts and age-restricted housing district already limited height to 45 feet and either two or three stories, while the office park district is currently limited to 35 feet.
Some structures, such as cell towers, have their own separate restrictions, and would not be affected by the change.
Residents who wish to have multiple home occupations on one property may see a change in the approval processes for those businesses. If there is a home occupation at a property that required a special exception process – which is determined by the impact level of the business – any further businesses operated there will require both a separate special exception process and a site plan review that encompasses the impacts of all the current and proposed home occupations on the premises.
Not all home occupations require special exceptions, said Cheng. By the current rules, they’re allowed by right if they occupy no more than 20 percent of the gross floor area of the home, have no client visits or non-resident employees and deliveries or pickups limited to five visits per week or have no signs or exterior operations. Those rules remain intact in the proposed amendment.
Another amendment proposes to change where age-restricted housing could be located. Currently, the language around age-restricted developments allows them in the residential, general residential and agricultural and commercial districts. The new language would allow them in residential or commercial districts where town water and sewer services are available. Cheng said the intent of the change is to encourage density in the areas where there is infrastructure to support it.
The amendment would also eliminate language specific to density levels in areas not served by town water and sewer.
Another proposed amendment would clarify the language around extending granted variances and special exceptions, which expire if not begun or extended within two years. New language would limit the amount of extensions an applicant is allowed to two.
Another proposed amendment changes the language outlining the boundaries of the office park district. According to Cheng, one of the properties on the boundary has subdivided, and the language in the ordinance no longer matches the exact lot numbers shown in the town’s maps. The amendment updates that language, to include part of the subdivided lot in the district.
The public hearing for all proposed amendments is Jan. 4 at 6:30 p.m. in the Wilton-Lyndeborough Cooperative High School cafeteria. The full text of all proposed amendments, and the existing zoning ordinance, are available on the town’s website on the Planning Board page, or are available for viewing at the town offices. All amendments will be voted on by the public in March and require majority approval to pass.
Ashley Saari can be reached at 603-924-7172, Ext. 244, or asaari@ledgertranscript.com. She’s on Twitter @AshleySaariMLT.