Selectboard approves Vermont Commons highway access permit
Two board members oppose decision to approve controversial driveway.
ZBA approves Vermont Commons development
Proposed Spear Street education center can go forward, board decides.
Opinion – Charlotte: Where do we go from here?
Welcome, readers, to this new column focusing on the future of Charlotte, the seeds of which were precipitated by my tenure on the Planning Commission, recent significant changes as to how Charlotte regulates development and manages planning, and the fact that development has been a significant topic of discussion over the past few years.
Opinion – Wildlife habitat
Driving through our town, Charlotte still has some of that bucolic small town feel that attracted me to live here half a lifetime ago.
Opinion – Why a DRB is right for Charlotte and its future
“What’s broken?” and “If it ain’t broken, don’t fix it” have been typical reactions from the fear of change and are the wrong questions we should be asking.
Planning Commission considers the difficulties in preventing landscape fragmentation
The Planning Commission conducted a public hearing on May 20 to consider a permit application for a four-lot subdivision and Planned Residential Development (PRD) on a 20-acre property at 4035 Mt. Philo Road. The property is in a protected wildlife corridor between Pease Mountain and Mt. Philo. The site is near the intersection with Stockbridge Road.
Impending future of East Charlotte goes to a vote
After years of work and considering more than 70 potential Land Use Regulation amendments, the Planning Commission’s role came to a close on the issue at Monday night’s Selectboard meeting with the final hearings on proposed amendments to the Town Plan and LURs.
Rise ‘n Shine Farm at the corner
After seven long years, Steve’s Garage corner is beginning a new life. Peter Carreiro, “the milkman” of Charlotte’s milk delivery firm Rise ‘n Shine, held an open house at the property on Thursday, June 20, during which he and his wife, Dale, highlighted their plan for an ambitious redevelopment of the five acres at the corner of Church Hill Road and Route 7.
Library bond impact
Town Meeting Day is around the corner and with it, the vote on Article 8, the library expansion bond. In order to make sure that voters have the information they need when going to the polls, the Charlotte Library Board of Trustees would like to provide the following details.
Library asks for bond support
The Charlotte Library is ready to grow, and after three years of planning, supporters are ready to shift their efforts into high gear. At the request of the Selectboard, the library’s Bond Committee presented a proposal to the board on Dec. 17 to secure support for a $700,000 municipal bond, which would be presented to voters on Town Meeting Day in March.
Spears’ property under contract
Peter Carreiro, owner of Rise ‘n Shine, a grocery delivery service based in Charlotte and serving eleven local communities, is poised to take ownership of the Spears family property on the corner of Route 7 and Church Hill Road. “We are currently under contract with plans to close in January,” says Carreiro. “Soon after we will begin the process of un-developing the space.”
Selective cuts
I don’t know who started it, but at some point a lot of people started talking about timber harvesting in two categories: “clearcutting” and “selective cutting.” When I describe my job to laypeople, they often ask if I do “selective cutting,” perhaps trying to ensure that I’m not one of those “bad guys” associated with “clearcutting.”
R. L. Vallee withdraws application for Maplefields Store
Engineers for the proposed Maplefields off Route 7 and Ferry and Church Hill roads wrote to Zoning Board Chair Frank Tenney saying that, due to comments by the Vermont Agency of Transportation (VTrans) concerning cross-traffic turns into and out of the proposed location, they and R. L. Vallee, Inc. are withdrawing their proposal for a Maplefields Store on the site. The proposal called for lanes to allow southbound drivers, once they had passed through the traffic signal at the intersection, to turn left into the store’s lot and again to turn left as they leave. VTrans instead said only right turns from Route 7 into and out of the location would be allowed. Vallee and its engineers found this unacceptable and feared people would try to turn south coming out despite signs to the contrary.
Where does the town stand in regard to a new Maplefields?
At this point, process is what will produce the product. The process is town governance. The product will be what will stand at the intersection of Route 7 and Church Hill and Ferry Road. The first step in the process occurred last fall with a sketch plan hearing for a Maplefields gas and convenience store on the site.