Tonight, the Verona Town Council will hold a special workshop on the proposed changes to Verona’s zoning. This is another opportunity for you to learn about changes that could make your life as a Verona homeowner easier and save you money if you ever plan on making changes to your home. They will not affect the assessed value of your home.
The zoning changes stem from the revisions to Verona’s municipal master plan, a document that towns are required to re-examine every six years. A subcommittee of the Planning Board has been studying Verona’s zoning for almost four years, going lot by lot across town. Their work has already been the subject of numerous, public revisions within the planning board and of multiple public hearings. Owners of the few properties facing substantial changes were invited by letter to hearings.
The review discovered that large swaths of Verona did not conform to existing land use rules and zoning. As a result, homeowners frequently had to apply for a zoning variance for even minor changes to their properties. Verona also faced the possibility of lawsuits over inconsistency in its land usage, and subdivisions that could have created additional residential development.
The proposed changes go a long way to resolve those inconsistencies. To become law, they must be turned into zoning ordinances and approved by the Town Council, which won’t happen at tonight’s meeting. The workshop will hopefully include a PowerPoint presentation by Jason Kasler, the land-use consultant who has been working with Verona on the changes. It was available at the last council meeting but not shown because of technical problems. It is not yet available online.
The meeting will start at 7 p.m. in the council chambers on the second floor.
