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DECEMBER 22, 2022
Mobile dead zones mapped
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Verizon comes up short in state wireless testing BY JASON STARR Observer staff
In the battle of behemoth wireless companies, AT&T and T-Mobile are the clear winners over Verizon for mobile voice and data coverage in Williston. That is one takeaway from the results, published Friday, of the Vermont Department of Public Service’s mile-by-mile driving test of cell phone coverage conducted over the summer. The department partnered with the Vermont Agency of Transportation and a private company named Ookla to complete the tests, traveling main roads throughout the state while making phone calls and using the internet. In Williston, the tested roads were Routes 2 and 2A, Mountain View Road, Old Creamery Road, North Williston Road and Oak Hill Road. The results provide a clear picture of which wireless companies offer the best service in town, and where the dead spots are. They can be viewed in an interactive map available at www.publicservice.vermont.gov. “It was surprising that (Verizon’s) service did not perform as well as we expected it to perform,” said Corey Chase, the Department of Public Service’s telecommunications infrastructure specialist. Verizon has swaths of dead spots for voice calls at the north end of North Williston Road, along Old Creamery Road and along St. George Road (Route 2A). Its performance for internet data is spottier, with additional dead spots through see MOBILE page 12
Williston planners gave the go-ahead Tuesday for the continued evaluation of a subdivision proposal on this 100-acre parcel at the corner of Mountain View and Old Stage roads. OBSERVER PHOTO BY AL FREY
Planners greenlight Glaser subdivision process BY JASON STARR Observer staff
It was the end of the Williston Planning Commission’s third meeting to determine whether to proceed with a “specific plan” application to build about 100 homes on a 97-acre parcel at the corner of Mountain View and Old Stage roads. Planners had taken input from the landowners, the owners of a neighboring horse farm whose continued operation hinges on the parcel’s future, town staff and several community members. It was time to vote. But the commission was missing one member at Tuesday’s meeting, leaving it with the potential of a 3-3 split vote. And it appeared that’s what would happen when chair Meghan Cope joined members Chapin Kaynor and Shayla Livingston in explaining why they did not support the Specific Plan process for the parcel; and members Alex Daley, Cate Lamar and Ellie Beckett expressed their desire to move forward with it. Town staff advised the commission that, without a majority for either side, the application would not proceed. That’s when Cope changed her mind, making the official tally 4-2 in favor of proceeding. The commission had been tasked with determining whether a “substantial public benefit” could result from the subdivision. Applicants Jack and Caitlin Glaser are offering about half the parcel to the town —
including 11 acres along Mountain View Road and 42 acres of wetland to provide for the continued operation of the horse farm — as the public benefit. In return they hope to expedite the construction of housing faster than what would be allowed under existing regulations. Tuesday’s vote affirmed that a public benefit could result from the subdivision, greenlighting a still-lengthy development review that is outlined in the town’s seldom-used Specific Plan process. In January, the commission will set up a new committee consisting of members of the planning commission, development review board, conservation commission and four community members. Already, 19 community members have expressed interest in being on the committee, according to town staff. The committee’s meetings will be open to the public and held on Thursday evenings one or two times a month. Its work will entail finalizing a plan for the neighborhood that considers affordable housing, construction scheduling, street alignment and the terms of a lease for Windswept Farm to continue operating on the 42 acres that are proposed to come under town ownership. The committee is expected to have a finalized plan by June. The planning commission will then conduct public hearings and vote whether to recommend it for approval to the selectboard. If the selectboard then approves it, the plan would go to the
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development review board for permit approval. “This seems like a really interesting way to achieve a conservation goal — maybe at the cost of putting up housing a little bit faster than we otherwise would have, but it’s housing that was going to be (built) anyway,” Daley said before voting ‘yes’ Tuesday. Kaynor argued against proceeding, saying the town would be better off relying on existing development caps that limit growth in the Mountain View Road area to 20 new units per year. Those allocations are mostly spoken for over the next several years by already-approved subdivision applications to the west of the Glaser’s property. “The (benefit) is not substantial in comparison to the ask,” Kaynor said. “The ask is for us to override our growth management system and basically build double the number of houses over the next six years than we otherwise would in this district … That has all sorts of downstream effects, from schools to roads …” Waiting for growth management units to become available would allow the town to enact affordable housing and energy efficiency requirements that are currently under consideration. “The fact that this might have to go slower is a good thing in the long run for the community, not a bad thing,” he said before voting ‘no’ Tuesday.