The Lyndon Select Board voted 5-0 to unanimously reject a proposal

The Lyndon Select Board voted 5-0 to unanimously reject a proposal to waive nearly $260,000 in zoning violation fines for Kris Norris, the lien holder of 66 Horseshoe Lane. Norris requested the waiver to facilitate taking possession of the property from his daughter, Kathleen French, in lieu of foreclosure. The board believed granting the request would set a troubling precedent, allowing others to evade fines. Select Board Chair Chris Thompson stated, “If we signed this, we would be giving people a road map of how to get out of violations.” French began accumulating fines in June 2021 due to ongoing issues with odor, noise, and sanitation related to illegal chicken and compost operations on the property. Reports indicate that French kept nearly 100 chickens on site and brought in food scraps to feed them. Although the property appears uninhabited now and has generated no complaints in the past year, it attracted numerous complaints from neighbors between 2021 and 2023, leading to unsuccessful enforcement actions.