Snyder, Summer Field dominate Growth Management

DRB grants home allocations to an array of subdivisions, large and small

BY JASON STARR Observer staff

The Williston Development Review Board approved 66 new homes for construction last week for eight different subdivisions during its annual Growth Management meeting.

The Annex project by Snyder Homes (31 homes approved) and the Summer Field project on what is now the Catamount golf course (15 homes approved) received the most allocation. A series of smaller subdivisions outside of the town’s state-designated “Growth Center” — the Taft Corners area — received approval for one or two new homes apiece.

The Growth Management section of Williston’s land use regulations limits home construction approvals to no more than 80 per year. Each year, 50 units are available within the state-designated Growth Center, 20 are available outside the Growth Center but inside the sewer service area, and 10 are available in areas not served by sewers. Land developers compete for allocation based on a scoring system that rewards affordable housing, energy conservation, land conservation and new path or trail construction, among other factors. Town staff recommends a score for each subdivision to the board.

THE ANNEX BY SNYDER HOMES

The Annex project, which calls for 276 homes on 54 acres off Route 2A, was the only applicant within the Growth Center. It had already received 173 units of allocation over the past two Growth Management meetings, in 2022 and 2021. It came into last week’s meeting needing 66 units (a senior housing building proposed for the neighborhood is exempt from Growth Management restrictions).

The board unanimously approved 31 units, following the recommendation of the town’s planning staff.

SUMMER FIELD (CATAMOUNT GOLF COURSE)

The Summer Field subdivision is being developed by Chris Senesac of Ethan Allen Homes on part of what is now the Cat-

Church abandons subdivision plans

Last year, Trinity Baptist Church received preliminary approval and Growth Management allocation for a planned 58-unit residential subdivision on its 50-acre campus on Mountain View Road.

Along with the proposed conversion of the nearby Catamount golf course into housing and another residential subdivision in the works down the road at the Old Stage Road intersection (the Glaser property), Trinity’s plan was part of an impending housing growth spurt in northern Williston.

But despite preliminary approvals from the Development Review Board, church leaders have decided to abandon plans for the neighborhood, according to Pastor Rob McIlwaine.

“The church, through a congregational vote, decided not to sell the property to a developer,” McIlwaine said in a March email to the Observer.

Last Tuesday, the 13 homes it received approval for during the board’s Growth Management hearing last year were put up for grabs again for other developers to compete for. The church does still plan to create one new home on a portion of its property fronting Mountain View Road, which the board granted allocation for last week (see related story, above).

— Jason Starr

Is NECS next with a ‘Specific Plan?’

Manufacturer looking to expand on Williston Road

BY JASON STARR Observer staff

Town planners shot down New England Chimney Supply’s expansion plans two years ago, but the manufacturing company’s desire to just about double its Williston Road operation has not gone away.

Last week, NECS representatives met with the Williston Planning Commission about reviving its “Specific Plan” zoning application that would allow for a 30,000-square-foot expansion on a parcel that straddles both a residential and industrial zoning district.

Because of the residential zoning on a portion of the parcel, the company is turning to the town’s rarely used Specific Plan development process — a way to create site-spe- cific land use regulations in exchange for a public benefit. In this case, NECS is proposing the construction of a stretch of sidewalk along Williston Road and a bus stop for Green Mountain Transit’s use.

Similar public benefit ideas were part of the company’s denied 2021 application, but NECS is willing to go further this time by installing pedestrian accommodations at the