Planning Commission
The Jericho Planning Commission (PC) is made up of seven volunteer-members appointed by the Select Board. We do our work through a lens which attempts to balance the public good with private rights and interests by listening to public input, researching issues and solutions, and following state and regional laws and guidelines.
The primary duties and responsibilities of the PC include:
Prepare the Comprehensive Plan, for consideration by the Selectboard. The Comprehensive Plan, also known as the Town Plan or Municipal Plan, describes the future visions and goals of the community, and it sets forth how the Town intends to achieve its goals.
Propose by-laws, for consideration by the Selectboard. The by-laws, also known as Land Use and Development regulations or zoning regulations, implement the growth and development goals of the community, and they must conform with the Town Plan.
Meetings are held on the first and third Tuesday of each month. Public participation and comment is welcomed and encouraged. Click Here For PC Meeting Procedures
Other roles of the PC:
Advises the Selectboard and other Town committees (e.g. Conservation Commission, Trails Committee, Affordable Housing Committee) on planning topics, projects, and the capital program.
Assists town committees and staff with actions that will implement the visions and goals of the adopted Town Plan. Each town committee has a liaison on the Planning Commission so we remain apprised of each others' work.
The PC is assisted and guided by the Town Planner, who is a town employee. Through this collaboration the PC and Planner:
- Collect information and recommend town policies related to land use and development, housing, public spaces, transportation, economic and social development, historic and scenic preservation, recreation, energy use and conservation, and natural resources protection.
- Identify grants from government and nonprofits to fund projects.
Ensure Jericho complies with state planning goals and smart growth principles.
Work with the Chittenden County Regional Planning Commission, our neighboring towns, and state agencies like the Vermont Agency of Commerce and Community Development and the Agency of Natural Resources.
Click on any of the buttons below to read the documents:
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Click this link to view more planning documents on the Town Documents Page. You can also find all old versions of the Town Plan and Land Use Regulations Here. You can also find more Planning Documents on the sidebar of this page.
Here are some of our current projects - click on each image for more information.
 Connecting Jericho Corners and Riverside - Multimodal Path |
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Planning Commission Meeting - August 6
The Planning Commission meets next on Tuesday August 6th from 7:00 - 9:00 pm in the Town Hall.
During the last PC meeting (July 30) the PC expected to have a revised draft of the Commercial District Master Plan. This will not be avaialbel, but will be for the August 20th meeting. So, this item will not be on their agenda. During this meeting, they will continue discussing amendments to the Town Plan.
In particular, they will be talking about changes related to the Commercial District. These changes are being made as a result of a change in the vision for the future of the Commercial District. You can view documents related to the meeting by clicking the links below:
- Draft Master Plan for the project
- Draft Maps
- Draft Appendix
- Draft Commercial District Town Plan Changes
The PC will also talk about changes related to the Energy Chapter. You can view more about the Energy Changes by clicking the link below.
They may also discuss the Natural Resources Chapter. The Conservation Commission is currently working on this and the Planning Commission will receive a revised chapter soon and it will be posted here when available.Want to know more about the Town Plan Amendment Process? Click the button below.
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Planning Commission Meeting - July 30
The Planning Commission meets next on July 30 from 7:00 - 9:00 pm.
At this meeting the Planning Commission will hear from their consultant, Chris Sargent, who will present a revised draft of the Master Plan for the Commercial District. The Planning Commission has been working on this for over a year and are excited to be close to wrapping up the Master Plan portion of the project.
To learn more about the Commercial District Project, visit the project page HERE.
If time permits, the Planning Commission is discuss changes to the Town Plan that will be required related to the Commercial District. There is a new project page related to the Town Plan Amendments. this is where details and drafts of all changes will be posted. View that page HERE
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Planning Commission Meeting - July 16
The Planning Commission meets next on July 16 from 7:00 to 9:00 pm in the Jericho Town Hall. Please join us!
The Planning Commission will be discussing some potential edits to the Town Plan. Here is a summary of the areas that they are looking into:
- Energy Chapter - The state of Vermont has some very ambitious future energy goals and has tasked every town to play their part. With the help of the Regional Planning Commission, the Jericho Energy Task force have revised the Town Plan Energy chapter to reflect the new state goals and show how Jericho will help meet the goals. Emily Nosse-Leirer from the CCRPC will be attendance to talk about the current draft of the Energy chapter plan.
- Healthy Community language related to prevention/public health. Melanie Needle from the CCRPC and Juston Hoy from Essex CHIPS will be in attendance to discuss how Jericho can incorporate language into the Town Plan to support these efforts.
- The Commercial District project is wrapping up the Master Plan and Vision Statement portion of the project. The revised vision statement, below is very different from the current vision statement. As a result, the Town Plan, which explains the purpose and vision for all parts of town, will need to be changed. This process will begin on Tuesday. Below is the revised vision statement for the CD:
A Commercial District that creates a valuable connection betweenJericho Village and Riverside Village; providing a location formixed-use development and expanded commerce at anappropriate scale for the community which preserves ruralcharacter, the natural beauty of the landscape and distant views.Please join us on Tuesday July 16. If you are unable, a video of the meeting, recorded by MMCTV, will be available for viewing soon after the meeting. -
June 18 Planning Commission Meeting Summary
The PC met on June 18 with their consultant (Chris Sargent from DuBois & King) for the Commercial District project. They also heard from members of the Tri-Town Alternative Transportation Committee (TTATC) and spoke about the information they had received from other boards and committees about how the Commercial District could help meet their goals. The goal for the PC meeting was to wrap up the draft Master Plan and finalize the vision statement for the CD project.
The TTATC noted that they are looking for additional transit opportunities during the day. As they have been thinking about where to locate a park and ride, they see that the Commercial district would be an ideal spot.
Chris Sargent, presented a summary of his findings, which are as follows:
Connectivity- People support connecting the village
- People want more recreational opportunities (paths, biking)
Infrastructure- General support for expansion (although this would likely shift with details)
Uses- Support for mixed use
- Support for “small-scale commercial”
- Support light industrial
- Minimal support for heavy industrial
- Support for indoor/outdoor recreation
- Support for most commercial uses
- Support for retail (not chain retail)
- Objections to “formula retail”
- Support for housing (single and multi-family)
- No Junkyards
- Minimal support for dormitories or hostels
Scale- People are generally ok with buildings under 18,000 sq feet.
- Over 18,000 sq feet and they are less interested.
Aesthetics- Support for protecting views
- Support for landscaping and screening
- No support for strip development
Chris Sargent will revise the draft master plan and plan on meeting with the Planning Commission on July 30. In the mean time, Jason will meet with the property owners. -
Planning Commission Meeting -June 18
The Planning Commission meets next on Tuesday June 18 from 7:00 - 9:00 pm. They would love it if you could join them! If you can't you can view the MMCTV video that will be posted on this page a couple of days after the Tuesday meeting.
The PC is wrapping up the Master Plan and Vision Statement part of the Commercial District project. They will discuss any lose ends with their consultant from DuBois & King, Chris Sargent. They will also hear from several boards and committees about how the CD furthers the goals of their boards.
Please visit the Commercial District page of this website to learn more about the project and take the surveys that are posted there. These surveys won't be up for much longer, so now is you time to participate.
Here are the direct links to each survey:
Please feel free to leave any comments about the project here. -
Planning Commission Meeting Summary - June 4
The Planning Commission met on Tuesday June 4. If you missed it, you can read the minutes on this page and view the MMCTV video on this page as well.
The Planning Commission held an Open House for the Commercial District on Saturday June 1 from 9:00 - 2:00 pm in the Town Hall. The PC spent the majority of their meeting discussing the Open House. They also talked about what the next steps are for the CD project.
They noted that they all thought that the Open House format was excellent. They observed that there were quite a few first time contributes to the CD project in attendance. They decided that it would be good to have the questions asked at the Open House up on the website in the form of surveys. They anticipate that they will close the survey just prior to their next meeting on June 18.
Their project consultant, Chris Sargent will be attending their meeting on June 18 and they will be wrapping up the Master Plan and Vision Statement part of the project.
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Planning Commission Meeting Summary - May 21
The Planning Commission met on Tuesday May 21. If you missed it, you can read the minutes on this page and view the MMCTV video on this page as well.
The Planning Commission has an Open House for the Commercial District scheduled for Saturday June 1 from 9:00 - 2:00 pm in the Town Hall. The PC spent the majority of their meeting planning for the Open House.
They heard from the Conservation Commission and The Trails Committee on how they see the future development of the Commercial District helping their committee/commission meet the Town's goals under their purview.
- The CC discussed protection of prime agricultural soils as well at water resources (specifically the Browns River).
- The TC discussed their desire to see more of a recreational trail in the district as well as biking options, likely along RT 15. Both the TC and CC's vision will be available for public comment at the upcoming Open House.
Regarding the planning for the Open House they further discussed the items for public comment. The questions they are asking will be focused around the draft vision statement in the draft Master Plan. Here is that draft vision statement:
"A Commercial District that provides a valuable connection between Jericho Village and Riverside Village, acting as a location for mixed-use development and expanded commerce which preserves the natural beauty of the landscape and distant views at an appropriate scale for the community."
What If you can't attend the Open House but would like to comment, you may leave comments here. We will also be posting the Open House material on the Commercial District page for further commment. We want to hear from you!
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Planning Commission Meeting Summary - May 7
The Planning Commission Met on May 7 and discussed the upcoming Open House for the Commercial District project. This will be a time for Jericho citizens to come and learn about what the has been said so far about the future of the CD and taking the discussion one step further.
The they discussed what will the questions asked at the Open House. They determined that it will focus on the draft vision statement developed so far:
“A Commercial District that provides a valuable connection between Jericho Village and Riverside Village, acting as a Location for mixed-use development and expanded commerce at an appropriate scale for the community, which preserves the landscape distant views and rural landscape.”
The questions asked will be something like:
What does "connection" mean to you?
What kind of "mixed use" is appropriate?
What is "appropriate scale?"
Meeting minutes can be found on this web page. The MMCTV video of the meeting is also available for viewing through this web page.
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Upcoming Planning Commission Meeting - May 7
The Planning Commission meets next on May 7, from 7:00 - 9:00 pm at the Town Hall.
The PC will be digging in further to the Commercial District Project.
They are preparing for the June 1 Open House that will be held in Town Hall. That will be from 9:00 am - 2:00 pm. It is designed as an open ended event where people can stop by for a minute or longer to catch up on and react to what has happened in the project so far, and/or offer new thoughts. It's not to late to have your say!
Please feel free to join the Planning Commission next Tuesday.
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Planning Commission Meeting Summary - April 16
The Planning Commission met on April 16 and discussed Uses in the Commercial District. They spent a good deal of time discussing the survey results on Mixed Use.
You can view those results here.
They discussed uses in the Commercial District in general. As seen by this Venn diagram, you can see that the CD is the most permissive district. It shows the overlap with the Village Center District as well as where they differed.
They also looked at the the data that they gathered from the Workshop as well as here on this website about what the CD should be.
Watch MMUCTV Recordings
Questions? Contact Us
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Committee Chair
SBEmail Pchair@jerichovt.gov -
Jericho Town Planner
Phone 802-899-2287 x103 Email lblasch@jerichovt.gov