E-News June 2010

Welcome to Smart Growth Vermont's June E-newsletter! This month, read about The Onion City, how to protect the world's most endangered historic places, and how community land trusts have helped their owners weather the foreclosure crisis. Get the latest news on the Governor's veto of the Current Use bill and information on our upcoming Arthur Gibb Award ceremony in September.

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Statehouse Update: Legislature Will Not Return to Override Veto

The state legislature will not return to override Governor Douglas’ veto of H. 485, An Act Relating to the Use Value Appraisal Program. Rather than bring the legislature back at taxpayer expense, state leaders pledge to make this issue a top priority of the next session.

“The current use bill addressed the very real concerns of Vermonters that the current system is being used by some to subsidize development,” said Speaker Smith. “We are disappointed the Governor was unwilling to respond to these concerns. It will be a top priority of the next legislature to restore the current use program to its intended purpose of promoting the working Vermont landscape we all know and love.”

In addition to not addressing problems in the program, this veto creates a $1.6 million state budget shortfall, which will also have to be addressed next year.

Community Planning Partnership Update

Towns Work to Protect Vermont's Iconic Views

Essex and Jericho are hard at work on a joint project to protect the rural character of their landscape, including iconic views of Mount Mansfield and Camel's Hump.

Using data from a scenic assessment completed last year, both towns have reviewed and narrowed their list of scenic protection options, both regulatory and non-regulatory.

In April and May, the planning commissions and citizens of both towns reviewed options such as scenic overlay districts, updated Town Plan language, updated subdivision siting standards, density bonuses, and traditional settlement patterns, and discussed which measures best fit their towns. Both towns are incorporating their findings in a Scenic Protection Manual and Town Plan, and are moving toward implementation by drafting relevant bylaws.

For more information, please visit the Essex and Jericho page of our Community Planning Partnership section.

Save the Date!

You probably just received one of our “Save the Date!” cards in your mail, but just in case, mark Wednesday, September 15, 5:30 to 8:00 p.m. for our annual Arthur Gibb Award for Individual Leadership celebration. Festivities will be held in Montpelier at the T.W. Wood Gallery and Art Center, featuring an appetizer menu focused on Vermont foods. We’re keeping our registration fee the same as the past two years, $35 per person. This is only possible thanks to our generous sponsors.

Invitations will be in the mail in a few weeks. If you’d like to sponsor our event, let us know by June 15 and you can be acknowledged with your company logo on the invitation (for a sponsorship at the Leader Level, $500, and above). You can sign up for sponsorship online or download our form for more information. You can also register for the event online.

Member Spotlight

Peter Gregory, Executive Director
Two Rivers-Ottauquechee Regional Commission
"I support Smart Growth Vermont because they embrace the premise that growth is desirable and that it can happen in a way that respects the human, physical and natural environments. They are comfortable and effective at operating in each environment and their efforts lead to healthy communities. These are values shared by the Two Rivers-Ottauquechee Regional Commission, a proud sponsor of Smart Growth Vermont's Arthur Gibb Award ceremony this September."

Upcoming Events

The University of Vermont is hosting, "Modernist Architecture Comes of Age: Preservation Meets Sustainability", Friday, June 25, in the Music Building.

This day-long symposium will explore the preservation of historic modernist buildings and how to rehabilitate them to be sustainable and functional in the 21st century. For more information, or to register, visit, www.uvm.edu/~modern.

And save the date. Our 2010 Arthur Gibb Award for Individual Leadership event will be held Wednesday, September 15, 5:30 to 8 p.m. at the T.W. Wood Gallery and Art Center on the campus of the Vermont College of the Arts in Montpelier.

Also, check out Upcoming Events on our website! You'll find information about conferences, lectures and presentations on a wide variety of topics.

Smart Growth in Action: Fundamental Principles

_{Principle 6: Encourage and strengthen agricultural and forest enterprises and minimize conflicts of development with these businesses.}

Vermont's working lands are a critical component of our economy, history and culture. Over 20% of our land is farmland and 78% is forested. Dairy alone returns more than $2 billion to our economy in the form of product and jobs. In fact, our dairy industry employs thousands more people than IBM and is second only to our state government. Every acre of forest adds $335 to our economy, or over $300 million in 2007.

We value our working land for its direct economic importance and for the added value it brings to tourism and to the quality of all our lives. Our landscape provides wildlife habitat and diversity, scenic landscapes and recreational opportunities. Many Vermonters are creating businesses that use the land -- woodworkers, syrup production, biomass collection and small scale logging.

A recent report conducted by the Council on the Future of Vermont quantifies the high value we place on our traditional compact villages surrounded by working landscapes. This reinforces the need to preserve our farms, forests and wildlife habitat. However, we are losing thousands of acres of farm, forest and critical wildlife habitat each year to development.

Our farming and forest sectors are changing to keep up with market demands and state and local governments need to strengthen land use policies that can support a balance of economic, cultural and environmental values. Vermont already has several programs in place, including the Current Use Program which taxes land on its use rather than on highest development potential. Conservation of land helps keep farming and logging possible for Vermont families. At the local level, towns can create zoning districts to encourage agriculture at the edges of compact villages, denser development in town centers, and protect larger tracts of land critical to wildlife from fragmentation.

As Vermonters, we can frequent our local farm stands and farmers markets and support local woodworkers, buy local syrup and consider biomass as a fuel source. By keeping our food sources local and keeping the forest resources we harvest in Vermont, we are also retaining jobs.

Smart Growth Vermont also provides numerous resources in the Community Planning Toolbox and the Connect to the Land sections of our website. Take a look!

Community Spotlight: Winooski

Known in Abenaki culture as the place of wild onions, Winooski is a small city with a rich history rooted in the mill industry. Evidence of this remains present today through the restoration of the downtown and surrounding mills, along with a dedicated community that continues to support efforts to boost Winooski's identity.

Built on the banks of the Winooski River and close to Lake Champlain, Winooski was the Northeastern region’s major point of industry from the 1800’s up to 1954. As the U.S. economy evolved, the American Woolen Company closed its Winooski mills, leaving many residents jobless. The community came together during this tough time to provide meals and clothing to those most impacted by the economic downturn. This sense of community remains present today, particularly at the O’Brien Community Center which brings citizens together through various community events, after-school programs and a teen center that strengthens the city's neighborhoods.

Winooski is currently in the process of completing the largest downtown redevelopment project in Vermont. Phase 1 of the project, Spinner Place, a mixed-use building containing 16,000 square feet of retail space at the ground level and 84 units of student housing, was completed in 2006 and honored with a Smart Growth Award. Today, Spinner Place houses students from two area colleges and interest in the retail space is increasing.

The Champlain Mill and Keen's Crossing, also located in the downtown district, have been restored to include a mix of housing and retail space. The Champlain Mill has seen a rise in new businesses over the past year and apartments at Keen's Crossing are nearly full. Additionally, a new market in the Keen's Crossing space will open in August.

The overall revitalization plan is to create more than 500 units of housing, over 40,000 square feet of retail and restaurant space and a boardwalk overlooking the river. The plan also calls for the protection of historic buildings and the conservation of 100 acres of open land.

Community members are doing their part to encourage foot traffic to the downtown by hosting the annual Winooski Riverwalk Festival and a farmers market runs during the spring and summer months. Other draws include restaurants such as Tiny Thai and Sneakers, which are popular destinations for residents in neighboring communities.

Vermont News

Vermont Corridors and Commons Award Seeking Submissions

Do you know of a project in Vermont that links open space to common areas or community centers? Is there an ongoing effort in your community to connect public spaces with recreational opportunities and access to wildlife viewing areas? If the answer is yes, find out more about the Vermont Corridors and Commons Awards. This program is sponsored by The Vermont Urban and Community Forestry Council and the Vermont Chapter of the American Society of Landscape Architects. Find out more.

Bellows Falls Organization Remains in Downtown Location

Photo courtesy of Parks Place Community Resource Center

A Bellows Falls organization in serious need of expanded office space avoided a costly move by redeveloping an existing structure behind their current office building. A Vermont Building and Services grant and help from the local community allowed Parks Place to celebrate 15 years of service in the same downtown location. Read More.

National News

Show Support for 2010's Eleven Endangered Historic Places

The National Trust for Historic Preservation recently announced the 2010 list of Endangered Historic Places. Since 1988, the organization has identified 222 sites throughout the world that face serious threats. As a result, only a handful have been lost. Some of the places included on this year's list are America's State parks and state owned historic sites, Merritt Parkway in Connecticut and Hinchliffe Stadium in New Jersey. Explore this year's list and find out how you can help preserve our natural heritage.

Smart Growth Principles Incorporated into New LEED Ratings

The U.S. Green Building Council is expanding its Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (known as LEED) program to evaluate entire neighborhoods. The ratings will provide independent third-party evaluations of a development’s sustainability and overall environmental responsibility. Read More.

Homeowners Weather Foreclosure Storm

Photo courtesy of Champlain Housing Trust

While homeowners across the country are facing foreclosure, most Community Land Trust (CLT) homeowners have weathered the storm. According to survey results released by an independent researcher with Vanderbilt University, conventional homeowners were 8 times more likely to face foreclosure than CLT homeowners at the end of the 4th quarter of 2009. Some of the success is drawn from the fact that CLT's offer low-to-moderate income households the opportunity to buy homes at prices substantially below market rates, utilizing a combination of public and private subsidies. CLT's also provide pre-purchase education and ongoing stewardship once homeownership has occurred. Read more.

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