Brattleboro planners will recommend retail size limit

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(Host) Planners in Brattleboro will pass along a recommendation for a temporary sixty-five- thousand-square-foot size limit on retail stores in town. The interim zoning bylaw goes to the town’s selectboard early next month for approval.

The planning commission opened its public hearing last night with a proposal for a fifty-thousand-square-foot cap. That was amended upward to include the size of the largest store currently in town, a Home Depot.

Planning Commission chairman, Burl Penton, says people want a healthy community where they feel comfortable shopping.

(Penton) “And I’m not sure where mega stores fit into that. I’m not sure that they do. But on the other hand there’s the complexities of what’s best for the town. This whole investigation that the committee’s been doing – I think it’s raised as many questions as answers. And that’s why they felt that an interim regulation would give them an opportunity to really tie up all of the loose ends that they found.”

(Host) The selectboard must also hold a public hearing on the interim bylaw. If approved, it gives the town up to two years to work out the details of a permanent zoning provision.

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