Williston Selectboard approves housing project

This story by Jason Starr was first published by the Williston Observer on Jan. 25.

The Williston Selectboard changed the town’s zoning rules and planning documents Jan. 16 to accommodate a 109-home housing development in the town’s first-ever “specific plan” approval of a residential subdivision.

The unanimous vote capped roughly 18 months of planning, public hearings and committee approvals, resulting in an agreement in which landowners Jack and Caitlin Glaser will gift 50 acres near the corner of Mountain View and Old Stage roads to the town in exchange for expedited new home construction unbound by the town’s typical growth management caps.

“I think you’ve made a very wise decision that will support the community now and far into the future,” Jack Glaser said after the selectboard vote.

The approval came after a public hearing where citizens in favor of the plan outnumbered those opposed 10-to-1. The majority of those speaking in favor of the plan are patrons of Windswept Farm, an equestrian facility located next to the 100-acre Glaser property that uses part of the land as horse pasture. The agreement to convey 50 acres to the town paves the way for the continued operation of the farm, which has been a horse-lovers community on Old Stage Road for half a century, offering summer camps, after-school lessons and horse-boarding.

“If you vote yes to this plan you will allow us to stay in business,” Windswept Farm owner Tina Mauss told the board. “You will keep the open space on Old Stage Road. If you vote no, it will close us down and you’ll just have a bunch of houses there.”

Supporters of the farm chimed in from Jericho, Richmond and Williston, describing it as a unique rural oasis in an increasingly suburban area.

“I’ve always been drawn to the place,” said Olivia Cieri, a Champlain Valley Union High School freshman who has attended camp and worked as a camp counselor at Windswept. “It just kind of has a magical aura. It’s like a second home to me.”

With the town set to acquire the horse pasture, Windswept will need to reach an agreement with the selectboard to continue to run horses there. Discussions about that agreement are premature, Town Manager Erik Wells said. The land won’t come under town ownership until the Glasers receive subdivision approval from the Development Review Board (DRB). The DRB gave a preliminary approval in November.

“The project will need to obtain a discretionary permit from the DRB next,” Wells said Monday. “The property conveyance itself is a step after obtaining a discretionary permit. The applicant will be required to provide a draft irrevocable offer of dedication for the land donation as part of the discretionary permit application.

“The Glaser specific plan advisory committee and the conservation commission both recommended that the selectboard work with the Mausses and Windswept Farm to lease the land to them after it is conveyed to the town,” Wells continued. “Discussing a potential lease agreement will likely occur in parallel as the project goes through the (DRB) process.”

In addition to the pastureland, the town is also set to acquire 15 acres fronting Mountain View Road to protect it from housing construction and preserve Green Mountain views. One of the changes the selectboard approved was to reclassify that acreage as “protected viewshed” in the town’s Comprehensive Plan.

The lone dissenter at the public hearing, resident Reuben Escorpizo, said the public benefit of acquiring the land does not justify the exemption from the town’s existing housing construction limits. The limits are in place “to ensure we have a pace of development that is commensurate with services for all people of Williston,” he said.

Alternate development plans submitted under the town’s traditional subdivision regulations show a 180-home neighborhood.

The plan approved calls for 109 homes with two new roads, one intersecting with Old Stage Road and the other with Mountain View Road. The agreement limits construction to 18 homes per year. The Glasers have partnered with Sheppard Homes of Essex on construction.

“This plan shows the balance of the need for housing, but it respects the land and preserves a beautiful piece of land for the community,” said resident Cathy Keim.

Selectboard chair Ted Kenney agreed: “I think it’s a great plan,” he said. “I think it’s a model for balancing growth and preservation.”