Town Supervisor’s Report

7.8.26

 

The bombs have stopped bursting in air, the Semiquincentennial has come and gone, and another Wilmington summer is well underway. 

 

The Town of Wilmington usually doesn’t do much for Independence Day — our next-door neighbors have it covered — and we held true to that time-honored tradition this year, although we did add a couple of extra beach concerts and our town employees went the extra two-and-a-half miles and really decked the town out to mark the occasion.

 

Here is some of the other news from Wilmington.

1.

 

There will be a special town board meeting today (Wednesday, July 8), at 6 p.m. 

 

The primary purpose of the meeting is to discuss the town logo and the town’s branding. If time permits, I expect the board to follow that discussion by continuing our work on the town’s employee handbook. I do not expect the board to take any formal actions at the meeting — the purpose of the meeting is discussion. Hope to see you there, if you are interested and able to attend. 

 

2. 

 

The town board’s most-recent meeting was an important one: The board passed two landmark local laws. 

 

Local Law 2 is the most significant step that Wilmington has taken in more than a decade to ease the way for the creation of middle-income housing. The law primarily does this by removing red tape that obstructed housing development. The following is a quick summary of Local Law 2. 

 

Local Law 2:

— Decreases the minimum permissible square footage of a dwelling unit from 500 to 400 square feet to make “tiny homes” a more accessible housing option;

— Decreases the minimum lot size for new manufactured homes from three acres to one acre;

— Requires site plan review of new manufactured homes and emphasizes the Planning Board’s authority to require natural vegetative screening of new manufactured homes;

— Prohibits the use of new manufactured homes as short-term rentals;

— Emphasizes that all new manufactured homes in the town of Wilmington must be attached to a permanent foundation and clarifies the definition of “permanent foundation.” 

 

Local Law 4 addresses forestry and land clearing. Adopted due to the rapid changes we’ve seen around Wilmington in the past few years, LL4 puts a few new guardrails in place. 

LL4 adds “Land Clearing” to the town’s zoning code, but excludes from the definition of “Land Clearing” the following activities: 

(1) Ordinary site clearing in preparation for the construction of a building for which a building permit has been issued; 

(2) Routine maintenance of land for agricultural purposes;

(3) Harvesting Christmas trees, and; 

(4) Harvesting firewood for the personal use of the property owner.

 

Following the passage of Local Law 4, Wilmington now requires Site Plan Review and/or Special Use Permits for Land Clearing operations larger than:

— Two acres in the Hamlet zoning districts; 

— Three acres in the Moderate Intensity and Low Intensity zoning districts, and; 

— Five acres in the Rural Use and Resource Management zoning districts.

 

Both of these local laws were discussed at almost every town board meeting from February to June. Those conversations can be viewed on the town’s YouTube page; you can find the page by entering @TownofWilmingtonBoard in YouTube’s “search” bar.

The complete text of both laws is available at townofwilmington.org.

 

I thank the town residents who spoke at the public hearings about these laws, as well as those who submitted letters to the town board. 

I also thank the members of the town board for taking the wishes and perspectives of the public and the other board members into account, and for working collaboratively and patiently to get these laws across the finish line. 

3.

 

As usual, there is a lot going on in Wilmington this summer. Here are some of the notable events on the horizon:

 

Ride for the River Party

12:30 to approximately 3 p.m., Sunday, 7/12, town beach 

 

Ironman

Sunday, 7/19

 

Slow Your Roll Ride

5:30 p.m., Monday, 7/27, Hardy Road trailhead; more information is available at betatrails.org/slow-your-roll-rides.html

 

Wilmington Mountain Music Fest 

3 p.m. to 10 p.m., Saturday, 7/25, town ball field 

 

Summer Beach Concerts:

 

Thursday, July 9: JEB — Jim Amirault (roots rock, folk & Americana)

 

Thursday, July 16: Gwen Tracy Band (blues & rock)

 

Thursday, July 23: Larry Stone Band (blues & rock)

 

Thursday, July 30: Northwest (folk, bluegrass & Americana)

 

All beach concerts run from approximately 6 to 9 p.m.

 

That about sums it up … for now. We’ll have our regular monthly town board meeting on Tuesday, July 14, starting at 6 p.m. As usual, there will be a full agenda.

If we haven’t met before, or we haven’t seen each other in a long time (and frankly even if we have) … Well, whether you see me quaintly enjoying some mountain music or simply spot me quietly slowing my roll, please feel free to say hello. Generally, I’d be glad to answer any questions you may have about town issues (etc.) and I’d be glad to discuss your ideas, complaints, concerns, vendettas, etc.

And if the mountain music is too loud and it isn’t a good time to talk about “town issues,” I’d be glad to set up a time to speak in-person. 

 

Thanks for taking the time to read this report. 

 

Sincerely,

 

Tim Follos