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E-news September 2010 |
Welcome to Smart Growth Vermont's September E-newsletter! This month, learn how you can get involved to create complete streets in Vermont and save resources through compact development. Read about the historic designation for Pownal and how Tunbridge has strengthened their community through events such as the World's Fair. We're also highlighting recent tax credit grants and upcoming additions to our Toolbox. Like what you read in our e-newsletter? Let us know. Better yet, support this publication and our work in Vermont communities by becoming a sustaining member. Find out more. |
Last Chance to Register for Art Gibb Award Ceremony
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If you haven't had a chance to register for the 2010 Art Gibb Award event, now is the time! The deadline is just two days away, Friday, September 10. We are looking forward to a fun evening at the TW Wood Art Gallery, in Montpelier. Registration includes one complimentary drink and plenty of appetizers, made with many local products, thanks to some of our sponsors. We hope to see you on Wednesday, September 15!
Get Involved. Help Us Create Complete Streets!
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|  1st day of kindergarten for two Burlington children. |
Want to make sure you have a sidewalk to walk your kids to school or a bike path to get to work? On September 20-24, local volunteers will team up with AARP Vermont and Smart Growth Vermont to survey crosswalks and intersections in Burlington, St. Johnsbury, Rutland, and Brattleboro to shed light on the dangers pedestrians face as they walk on their streets and sidewalks. Volunteers will evaluate how these roads address walkers’ needs, such as whether there are adequate traffic signals, crossing signals and properly marked crosswalks or if there is enough time to cross streets.
This effort is part of a week-long statewide campaign called “Complete Streets Week: Making Vermont Walkable for All Generations,” which aims to survey intersections across the state. The results will be used to demonstrate the need for state Complete Streets legislation which will assure that road design incorporates the needs of all people, including cyclists, people with disabilities, and those who travel without a car.
Area residents are invited to participate in surveying local intersections. Everyone is welcome – young and old! Information on Complete Streets and local events is available at http://www.blcp.org/about/complete-streets. If your community is not listed, you can also find information on how to hold an event at an intersection near you! Questions? Contact Kathy Mathis at 802-318-0905 or vt@aarp.org.
What's New in the Toolbox
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|  Photo Courtesy of Vermont Law School |
Resolving Disputes without the Courts
Court challenges to land use planning and regulations can be combative, divide a community and cost money for all parties. Increasingly, alternative dispute resolution (ADR) methods have been successfully used to reach agreement through a process than can be more attractive, and less costly, to all involved. Thanks to our partners at VLS’s Land Use Institute, you can learn more about ADR as the newest tool featured in our Community Planning Toolbox.
Coming Soon
Check our Toolbox later this month for new tools and case studies for the issue, “Housing for All.” Information on Traditional Vermont Neighborhoods featuring case studies that analyze the average density, lot width and depth and actual living space for neighborhood blocks in Bristol, Burlington, Orwell and Vergennes will help communities visual their current zoning regulations. Mixed Use Zoning and Increasing Density will also be tools featured this month. Thanks to Chittenden Bank and TD Bank for their support of the Toolbox and creating tools that help create affordable housing options in Vermont communities.
Intern Spotlight: Abby Comstock-Gay
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Abby worked with Smart Growth Vermont as an intern during the month of August, researching the relationship between land use and health issues and developed new issues and tools that will be coming soon to our Community Planning Toolbox.
After studying for a semester in southwest China, Abby came home to Vermont for the summer, where she lived with friends in Burlington and made frequent visits to her family’s home in New Haven. In the fall, she will return to the cornfields at Kenyon College in Ohio, where she is a senior Modern Languages and Literature major, focusing on Chinese and German. After returning to Ohio, Abby anticipates that she will miss Vermont’s abundance of delicious local foods and beers!
Her time in China made Abby realize the importance of smart and deliberate growth and development, but also reminded her of the severity of America’s problem with sprawl. Abby is still unsure where her future will take her, but she hopes to live in a place where she will never have to own a car and will always have access to local food. Thanks Abby!
Upcoming Events
Learn More About Form-Based Code
If you heard Noelle, our Executive Director and Paul Dreher, the Zoning Administrator for Newport City, talk about Form Based Code on a recent VPR Vermont Edition and want to learn more, here’s an opportunity.
The Agency of Commerce and Community Development is hosting two events featuring Geoff Farrell, Chair of the Form Based Code Institute. The first is on Tuesday, September 21st from 7-9pm. It is free and open to the public and provides an introduction to form-based planning and regulations. The second is a day-long hands on workshop on Wednesday, September 22nd from 8:30-3:30pm. Go to our calendar of events for more details.
Smart Growth in Action: Fundamental Principles
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Principle 9: Balance growth with the availability of economic and efficient public utilities and services and through the investment of public funds consistent with these principles.
Think of community development like gardening. In order for the hose or the sprinkler to reach every bed, a gardener plots his or her garden in a neat, compact grid. This way, one water source can reach the whole garden all at once, and the gardener need not move too much to weed and maintain the garden. When the garden expands, plots are added adjacent to existing plots to continue the grid. A gardener would never make garden plots spread out and disconnected throughout the yard, otherwise it would waste the gardener’s time, money, and resources. In compact plots, plants grow better and require less resources and time.
Smart growth is like a well-plotted garden and businesses, services and homes are like plants. When our communities are developed compactly, it is more efficient and less expensive for everyone. This type of development creates more quality services for residents and more cost effective services for communities. The result is an efficient use of infrastructure and lower costs for streets and roads, water lines, sewage, electricity, recreational facilities, libraries, parks, emergency services and telephone facilities, among others. Vermonters have all experienced snowy, icy roads in the winter. More compact development makes the plowing and salting of these roads quicker and cheaper for local governments. Also, compact development gives more people good access to internet and cell phone coverage, a problem for many in Vermont. As we search for widespread alternative energy sources, it is especially important to promote compact communities to avoid reversing or neutralizing the benefits of these green energies because of “energy sprawl.”
Statistics show that this principle of smart growth indeed provides significant public cost savings. One study found that rural sprawl costs are about 60 percent more than denser urban development. In fact, it was estimated that smart growth can provide public cost savings ranging from $500 to almost $10,000 annually per unit (Victoria Transport Policy Institute). When it comes to using the public dollar to its best, compact growth allows for the smartest use of resources. So think back to your gardening sense, and develop pragmatically and efficiently.
Community Spotlight: Tunbridge
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|  Tunbridge World's Fair, circa 1900's.  Modern day Tunbridge World's Fair. Photo courtesy of Nancy Cassidy. |
Located in southern Vermont along Route 110, Tunbridge, Vermont is famous for many historic events and most notably for the annual World's Fair. Comprised of three village centers and boasting several historic bridges, Tunbridge is a small town with a very active community.
The town center includes homes, a library, two general stores, town offices and the post office. Tight-knit neighbors often gather for sewing circles or to participate in a neighbor-helping-neighbors group. By far the biggest event of the year in Tunbridge is the World's Fair. On average, this event brings between 30,000 and 40,000 people through town. The Fair has run annually since it began in 1867, with the exception of 1918, due to World War II and a serious Flu Epidemic. The Fairgrounds are located on 34 acres just behind the town offices, and remains a vital force in the Town’s economy. This year’s Fair runs from September 16th-19th and the main highlights include a Livestock Cavalcade, Rosaire's Racing Pigs and Memorial Pulling Arena contests, live music, shows and much more!
The local Historical Society currently has several revitalization and restoration projects going, including the North Tunbridge Church which is undergoing repairs and renovations to preserve the character of the building. In July the historic Foundry Bridge was re-constructed after being taken apart and renovated earlier in the spring.
The Planning Commission is planning a restoration in the town forest this fall. They are having a walk-through of the town forest this month as well as a town picnic in October to discuss restoration plans. The town forest has old logging roads and overgrown trails that the Planning Commission plans to repair and restore in order to make it more accessible and family friendly. Another interesting revitalization project that is currently on hold in Tunbridge is their effort to convert all of the town buildings to solar power. The town received a grant for this project but has been unable to come up with the entire funds needed in order to complete it. If the plan does come to fruition, it will mark another successful accomplish for the town and its residents.
Vermont News
19 Vermont Towns Receive $1.8 Million in Downtown Tax Credits
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|  Former Hardware Store, in Danville  Newly renovated, Bentley's Bakery & Cafe |
On a sunny afternoon in Barre, Governor Douglas announced the allocation of $1.8 million in tax credits to assist in the renovation or repair of buildings in downtown and village centers, including the fire damaged Aldridge Block. Since FY 2007, the state has invested $8.3 million in the program which has leveraged $133 million, a $16 dollar return on every dollar spent.
The Town of Danville, one of our Community Planning Partners, received $23,175 for code improvements. Twenty Hill Street was a former hardware store that Jeff and Nancy Frampton have turned into an apartment on the second floor and Bentley’s, a new bakery and café, on the first. Since opening this spring, Bentley’s has become a favorite of residents and tourists alike. So if you are in the area, stop in.
This program supports community revitalization, creates jobs, generates state revenues and stimulates private investments where we need it most – in our downtown and village centers. View the program summary and a full list of the projects.
Center Street in Pownal Designated a Historic District
Community members and elected officials joined to dedicate Center Street, in Pownal a State Historic District. A parade and community picnic helped mark the significance of the designation, which was made official in May, 2009. Read more.
Brattleboro Co-op Redevelopment Makes a Comeback
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|  Photo rendering courtesy of Brattleboro Food Co-op. |
The Brattleboro Food Co-op is back on track to complete an $8.9 million redevelopment project. More than $1 million has been raised from its shareholders, along with funding from People’s United Bank and the Cooperative Fund of New England.
In collaboration with Windham Housing Trust and Housing Vermont, the Co-op will consist of a four-story building on the co-op’s existing property. The top two floors will contain apartments, and one floor will be designated for co-op offices, cooking classrooms and a community room. The ground floor will become the co-op’s retail store. The project is expected to be finished in late 2011 or early 2012. Read more.
National News
New York State Implements Smart Growth Criteria
Governor David Paterson recently signed legislation requiring state agencies to meet 10 statutory criteria for smart growth before approving, financing or undertaking infrastructure projects. The State Smart Growth Public Infrastructure Policy also requires agencies to submit smart growth impact statements and to appoint advisory committees, all measures that aim to encourage sustainable growth and environmental quality. Read more.
Searching for Public Transportation? Ask Transit Score
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Similar to Walk Score, a new online tool has been developed to show people how accessible their neighborhoods and businesses are to public transportation. Transit Score helps residents and businesses in more than 40 cities, including Boston and Chicago, to determine their proximity to public transportation and can also calculate commuting costs. Check it out!
Survey Finds Developers Shifting to Mixed-Use, Pedestrian Friendly Neighborhoods
A recent business survey conducted by the Strategic Alliance, a group of real estate-related companies, has revealed that sixty percent of builders and developers in the Tri-State and Mid-Atlantic regions are shifting away from the traditional, large home designs, to that of a more sustainable model of mixed-use and pedestrian friendly neighborhoods. According to the survey data, builders are realizing that not everyone wants a single-family detached home. Read more.
© 2011 Smart Growth Vermont | 110 Main Street, Burlington, VT 05401
info@smartgrowthvermont.org | www.smartgrowthvermont.org | 802-864-6310
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