2023 Maidstone Town Survey

The Planning Commission’s 2023 Maidstone Town Survey has generated a lot of responses for which the Commission thanks everyone who participated. The survey ended on December 22, 2023, as announced previously. A Public Discussion about the Survey is scheduled for Wednesday, January 17, 2024. This meeting will be held both in-person at the Maidstone Town Hall and via Zoom. The Agenda and the Zoom link are posted on theTown website.

The Planning Commission created the survey to gather input from residents and property owners for revising the Town Plan, which expires on February 1, 2024. The upcoming revision of the Town Plan and the associated Town Survey have been discussed at several public Planning Commission meetings throughout 2023 and at the public November 6, 2023 Selectboard meeting. These discussions have been reported in the minutes for the meetings. However, not everyone attends meetings and/or reads the Minutes, so here is the Report from the Planning Commission from the Approved Minutes for the November 6, 2023 Selectboard Meeting that gives an overview of the Town Plan, its revision, and the Town Survey:

“Chris von Alt, Planning Commission Chair, reported what is happening with updating the Town Plan. Maidstone has had a Town Plan and Zoning Bylaws for 50 years. The current Plan was adopted by the Selectboard on February 1, 2016; State law requires that Town Plans be readopted, revising as necessary, every 8 years. The Maidstone Town Plan expires on February 1, 2024; the Planning Commission has the responsibility for updating and revising it. Adopting a new Town Plan that follows State requirements and State planning goals, and having it approved by our Regional Planning Commission, the Northeastern Vermont Development Association (NVDA), will make the Town eligible to apply for a broker range of State funding. The Town Plan will be the basis for updating the Bylaws, in particular including flood plain regulations that play a role in making flood insurance more affordable for those that need it.

Step One in the updating process is to seek public input. That is the reason the Planning Commission created the 2023 Town Survey that the Town Clerk distributed by mail. The Survey can also be completed online; the Town Clerk sent out an email to all on her distribution list that includes the link to the Survey, which is posted on the Town website. The Survey was developed based on what’s been done historically in the Town, incorporating questions from the 2006 Town Survey. The questions were also shaped to get input related to the 12 Required Elements that the State says must be included in the Plan. Scott asked if there is a deadline for completing the Survey; Chris said no deadline has been set; the Town will accept them for quite a while. Once the Commission has compiled and analyzed the survey results, public meetings will be held to discuss the results and to discuss any individual concerns about the questions; these meetings will be a vehicle for gathering more public input to use in updating the Town Plan. Chris stressed the importance of everyone in Town participating in the Survey and all public input opportunities. Planning Commission meetings are public, held via Zoom; there have been 5 concerning the Survey and Town Plan this year. Updating the Plan is a community-driven process, so public participation is very important.”