The Planning and Zoning Commission (PZC) will hold three public hearings over proposed changes to zoning regulations submitted by the Zoning Regulations Committee of the PZC.

The proposed changes primarily concern what Clinton Town Planner Abby Piersall termed “ a cleanup effort.”

The changes include updated definitions in Section 3, application procedure in Section 4, and inclusion of a health district review for lot line reviews in Section 5.

Section 3

“A lot of it is administrative fixes for things like missing definitions or cross-references,” Piersall explained about the definitions in section three.

Piersall said that when reviewing the town’s zoning regulations, it was discovered that there were cases of certain uses mentioned not in the proper place or left undefined, which over the years has led to confusion and questions about certain uses.

“We wanted to make sure we’re more clear about what we mean by certain terms,” Piersall said.

Section 4

The proposed changes to Section 4 are a case of modernizing the regulations.

“Over the summer, we moved to an online application process,” Piersall said.

As a result, Piersall said the current regulations reference required paperwork that is no longer required since the process is now digital.

Section 5

The PZC is proposing changes to Section 5 that would include health district review as part of the requirements for lot line revisions.

“It makes sure that with lot line changes, it doesn’t cause any issue with the septic, for example,” said Piersall.

Piersall said that these changes are ones the Land Use Department and Regulations Committee had kicked around for some time but never formally brought to the attention of the full PZC.

While these proposed changes are fairly straightforward and minor, Piersall said that down the road, the PZC might be tackling more substantial changes to the zoning regulations.

“The Regulations Committee has decided to have a standing meeting on the first Thursday of every month. They really want to take their time before bringing more ideas for changes to the full commission,” Piersall said.