China planners endorse proposed ordinance changes

by Mary Grow

At their March 26 meeting, China planning board members unanimously endorsed three proposed ordinance changes that select board members are considering presenting to voters at the June 11 annual town business meeting.

They are:

— A new Planning Board Ordinance;
— Amendments to chapters 2, 3 and 11 of China’s Land Development Code; and
— A new Chapter 8 for the Land Development Code, titled “Solar Energy Systems Ordinance.”

Planning board and select board members have worked on versions of an ordinance to regulate commercial solar development in China for years. As of March 28, the latest draft is available for review on the town website, china.govoffice.com, under the Elections tab on the left side of the home page.

Besides the addition of Chapter 8, the other amendments to the Land Development Code are intended to implement the new state law promoting affordable housing by allowing higher housing density. The proposed revised ordinance is on the website twice, under Elections and under the planning board, which is under the title Officials, Boards and Committees on the right side of the home page.

The changes are comprehensive, adjusting several sections of the ordinance to encourage more residential units. They include addition of a South China Development District along Route 3 and Route 32 south as far as Weeks Mills Road.

An explanation at the beginning of the draft reminds readers that China’s 2020 comprehensive plan recommended such a district, “for additional housing and development.”

The new Planning Board Ordinance is available under Elections on the town website.

In other business March 26, planning board members unanimously approved Chris Harris’s four-lot subdivision on the south side of Route 3 not far east of South China Village, after finding that it meets all criteria in the town subdivision ordinance.

Harris presented his initial application at the board’s Oct. 24, 2023, meeting, where board chairman Toni Wall summarized the process of applying for a subdivision.

The March 26 meeting began with public hearings on the Land Development Code changes, scheduled for 6:30 p.m., and on Harris’s subdivision, scheduled for 7 p.m. The anticipated interest in the ordinance amendments did not appear; no one attended the hearing.

Wall therefore moved directly to Harris’s hearing, which likewise brought no comments. When an abutter to Harris’s land arrived at 7 p.m., Wall invited comments, and received no objections to the subdivision plan.

The next regular China Planning Board meeting is scheduled for 6:30 p.m. Tuesday, April 9. Codes Officer Nicholas French said as of March 26, he had no applications pending.