Survey: slow growth preferred for Lyme

CHAUMONT — Preliminary results of a village and town of Lyme planning survey suggest that most residents prefer slow and steady growth with more restrictions instead of rapid and unregulated development.

The planning boards of the village and town have gathered more than 600 surveys from residents to help the boards formulate a master plan for development.

The boards sent out 2,285 surveys to residents in February, and 608 were completed and returned by the time the joint planning board met Thursday.

According to the preliminary summary, almost half of the respondents, or 48 percent, desired moderate to slow growth with tighter development restrictions in the town. Only 3 percent desired rapid growth with no restrictions.

The majority of village and town residents identified natural beauty as the most essential element to quality of life.

"Both the village and the town has a lot of natural beauty," said Andrew R. Nevin, a Jefferson County senior planner. "It's not an urban area, and that's part of why people choose to live in Lyme or Chaumont."

Mr. Nevin, who presented a preliminary summary of the surveys to the boards, said the surveys provided valuable insight to the communities' needs.

He said most people also identified the waterfront area as a very important element of the town and emphasized development of public docks and recreational facilities.

Although there weren't any questions asking residents if they were for or against wind-power production, about 64 respondents submitted written comments regarding wind. The number of pro- and anti-wind comments is yet to be determined.

As for business, 51 percent of the respondents in the village said they were satisfied with the businesses in the village, 45 percent said they weren't and 4 percent said they did not know.

The town had a higher percentage of people responding positively to the businesses in the town, with 57 percent saying they were satisfied and 37 percent saying they were not.

Town Planning Board member Anne M. Harris said she noticed that about 113 respondents commented that the town needs more grocery stores.

Most people identified single-family residential housing and farming as the two most appropriate land uses in almost all areas of the town. The survey broke the town down into seven different areas — from A to G. Industrial development was viewed as one of the least desired uses of land in all areas.

"We still have four more surveys to enter in the summary," Mr. Nevin said. "I think we learned a lot about the people who responded to the survey."

Town Planning Board Chairman Paul D. Norton said the boards will formulate a master plan for development in the town based partly on community input gathered through the surveys and future public hearings. The master plan will serve as a basis for planning and zoning regulations.

Village Planning Board Chairman Christopher A. Johnston said he would like to have the master plan completed within a year.

After the surveys are analyzed by the two boards, with the help of the county Planning Department, the boards will hold public meetings to identify other local trends, community concerns and policies regarding development.

"Our basic goal is to get as much public response as we can," Mrs. Harris said.

The planning boards will hold a workshop at 7 p.m. May 12 at the municipal offices on Route 12E to further analyze the surveys.

Also, the village Planning Board is seeking a new member to begin serving immediately. The new member will serve a term of five years starting April 1. Interested individuals should call the village office at 649-2900.

The two planning boards also are seeking secretaries to take minutes at meetings.

For more information, call the town of Lyme at 649-2788.