SKI TOWNS | ALL ABOUT THE (NEW) BASE

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Ever since the 1980s, people have talked about a base village at Killington. The ski area that was founded in 1958 quickly outgrew the 700-person village of the same name that was well down the hill from its lifts. Between 2010 and 2020, Killington’s population increased by over 73%, one of the fastest rates in the state. Now, the Beast of the East is within sniffing distance of a true ski-in, ski-out base village, thanks to its new designation as a Tax Increment Financing district (TIF).

Pending the TIF’s final approval, those plans could go ahead and construction on the infrastructure needed for the village project could start as soon as spring of 2023.

The proposed Six Peaks base village would be located on land owned by the SP Land & Company, much of it adjacent to the Killington Golf Course and where parking areas are now. “We’ve wanted to build there since 2020 but we needed the infrastructure, in particular the municipal water systems, to go in first,” says Steve Selbo, president of SP Land.

“The first residential offering will encompass condominiums and townhomes, as well as homesites in two ski-in/ski-out sites of 85 acres. The majority of the one-to-four bedroom residences will be in the Village’s core area in three-to-five story buildings which have a contemporary New

When completed, the new base village at Killington will have 35,000 square feet of space for retail shops and restaurants. England style.” The initial drawings for the project are being done by Hart Howerton, an architectural practice that has designed projects such as the 475,000 sq. ft core village at the Yellowstone Club in Montana.

When the Six Peaks project is fully built out (something developers expect would take six or seven more years after the first phase is completed), as many as 1,500 new residences will make up the village. There would be a new hotel, 35,000 square feet of space for retail shops, restaurants and bars. There may also be a skiers’ bridge that could connect Killington Mountain Resort’s Ramshead and Snowshed base areas.

But before any of that can happen two big hurdles have to be overcome: the municipal water system needs a major upgrade to handle the additional development and Killington’s access road, Killington Road, would have to be updated to handle the traffic.

In July, Killington received preliminary approval for its Tax Increment Financing district which will help the state fund those infrastructure projects, based on a longer term projected increase in tax revenues. A Tax Increment Financing district, or TIF, covers an area targeted for development that requires infrastructure to achieve further growth. Once approved, a town uses the increased property taxes generated by the TIF development to fund the infrastructure.

Killington town manager Chet Hagenbarth noted: “Without the public investments, the town will continue to see the stagnant and declining Grand List growth that has occurred over the past decade. Funding these investments locally without TIF would effectively double the Town tax rate, which is too much for taxpayers to bear.”

The improvements are anticipated to add over $285 million of new taxable value to Killington’s Grand List, yielding over $115 million in new property tax revenues over the 20-year retention period for the TIF district. Over $26 million of those new property tax revenues will go to the education fund, $4 million to the town’s general fund, and the remaining $84 million will be used to service debt taken on by the town to make the improvements

The town will use TIF to fund over $62 million in infrastructure investments, including municipal water buildout and updates to its central artery, Killington Road.

Two new wells already exist along Route 4 — about 1,000 vertical feet below Killington’s village — and TIF funding will create a municipal water system that can access the Route 4 wells at the top of Killington Road, near the base of the mountain. Secondly, Killington Road, which brings visitors from Route 4 up to the mountain, will be rebuilt. The renovations will include expanded sidewalks, bike lanes, bus pullouts, and other improvements needed to streamline the increased use imagined. The proposal is projected to create 275 jobs in the TIF district.

One question that the project doesn’t address directly, however, is workforce housing —an issue that many ski towns are grappling with. In June, Killington Mountain Resort

A summer view of the pedestrian village that will have a “New

England” style, says SP Lands’ Selbo. purchased the 90-room Hillside Inn after renting it for the 2021-22 season. Four years ago, the resort purchased the Mendon Mountain View Lodge and used its 39 rooms, kitchen and community space for employees. Together, the two properties are expected to house nearly 275 employees.

However, the build-out of the municipal water system should allow for more development, and hopefully, more employee housing. n