7/28/2009 6:00:00 AM Guidelines weighed for rural houses
Ryan Dostalek ConnectFitchburg.com
Where should new houses be located in rural Fitchburg? That's a topic being addressed by the Agriculture and Rural Affairs Committee, which will develop guidelines for clustering houses in rural areas.
It's the latest development in an often contentious relationship with rural landowners, many of whom have chafed under restrictions imposed by the city.
The city has developed criteria for siting individual houses that consider a variety of factors, such as protection of agricultural land. The criteria have been modified in recent years to address complaints that they were inconsistent and too restrictive.
The new guidelines, which will be developed in tandem with a comprehensive revision of the city's zoning code, allow houses to be located in clusters. The total number of houses will be determined by the principle of one house (or split) for every 35 acres.
The new system will also allow developers to acquire the rights to splits, although how that will occur must also be determined.
Committee members want to enlist the cooperation of rural landowners, but realize some fence-mending may be in order.
"It angers landowners when they hear discussions about their land with having been talked to first," said Marc Jones, a member of the committee, when it met on July 14. Ed Kinney said the committee is supposed to act as a liaison with rural residents about this and other issues.
There are several possible types of clusters, including some that might include land for horses, agricultural production, community gardens and conservation.
Proponents say clustering houses in rural areas would reduce the costs of providing services and ease traffic congestion, compared to scattering houses throughout the landscape.
The city also wants to cluster rural development in three existing hamlets (communities), such as Oak Hall.
There's also uncertainty as to how clusters will be affected by the city's ambitious plans to expand parkland and open space. For example, landowners wonder whether including land encompassed in the plans supercedes cluster development.
Other issues include whether to establish maximum or minimum limits on houses in clusters, how development rights can be transferred or purchased, and provisions to ensure the proper management of land owned in common.
