Vermont Growth Sparks Debate Over Vacation Homes and Environment
Longview of Windham County shows rapid vacation home expansion driven by Vermont Development Department campaigns. Non residents pay higher taxes while 29 percent of local homes are dilapidated. Major projects Chimney Hill Haystack Stratton and Stratton Corp. draw developers, with concerns over soil, sewage, and water quality. Officials warn high density threatens streams and lakes, urging central systems and careful planning.
MENTIONED IN THIS ARTICLE
New York
New Haven
Hartford
Boston
Mt. Snow
Feds
Vermont
Vermont Development Department
Vermont Life
New Yorker
New York City
New England
Development Department
Connecticut
Massachusetts
Windham County
John Weller
Wilmington
Windham
Haystack
Stratton Development
Niel Stanton
Stratton and
Winhall
Whitingham Farms
Clifford Jarvis
Vermont land boom fuels tax shift and farmouts
Rising demand for vacation sites in Vermont triples Guilford Grand List values based on past home sales, shifting tax basis from homes to land. Farmers lose acreage as land sells to developers, with Doover and Wilmington facing strain on services and schools. Towns adopt managers as growth reshapes rural landscape and spurs outmigration.
MENTIONED IN THIS ARTICLE
Vermont
John Bunce
Guilford
Bunce
Rodney Clark
Windham
Wilmington
Dummerston
Westminster
Governor Deane Davis Speaks On Uncontrolled Development
Gov. Deane Davis warned that unplanned development harms the environment at Middlebury College. He criticized get rich quick developers for neglecting pollution control and preserving nature, urging careful land use decisions and restrained industrial growth.
MENTIONED IN THIS ARTICLE
Deane Davis
Middlebury College
Indus
Whitingham Farms Planned as 2,096 Acre Vacation Complex
Whitingham Farms spans 2,096 acres across Whitingham Halifax and Heath Massachusetts. Plans show 1,735 lots with three lakes 25 miles of trails an 18 hole golf course and 13 acres for grazing. Two community centers a teen center and adult pool are projected, with a central water system but no centralized sewerage beyond lakes. Sixty lots sold twelve structures built. the project targets nearly 4,000 vacationers and residents.
MENTIONED IN THIS ARTICLE
Chimney Hills
Chimney Hill
Haystack
Wilmington
Tom Cullen
Cullen
Stratton Mt
Stratton
Winhall
Whitingham Farms
Whitingham
Halifax
Heath
Mass
Vacation Land Development Corp
Clifford Jarvis
Dover Hills
Dover
Deerfield
Beaver basements and beaver swamp developments in Ahmeek
In Ahmeek Dover the 33 lots average 0.6 acres with beaver swamp in the middle and one septic tank failure noted as eight houses have been built and 29 lots sold. Hartley Hill Farm in Westminster and Saxtons River is praised as Southern Vermonts best planned development with 75 sites, forests, a communal farm, and 1,000 acres green belt. Developers say new tax base and a cheaper build raise concerns over artificial demand and sewage needs in Vermont.
MENTIONED IN THIS ARTICLE
Stratton
The
International Paper Co
Winhall
Wilmington
Sugar House Hill
Guilford
Peter Zilliacus
Dover
Pennsylvania
John Weller
U.S
Vermont
Windham County
Dover Hills
Colman
Cavanagh Leasing
West Palm Beach Development Corp
Joseph Kline
Kline
Philip David
David
Zeckendorf
New York
Vermont Lumber Co
Windham
Anthony Corsosimo
Sunne Village
Ahmeek
Hartley Hill Farm
Westminster
Saxtons River
Weller
Anti-Developer Atmosphere Grows in Vermont Towns
Town officials clash with developers over zoning changes in Dover and Wilmington. Planning boards advanced 28 amendments, but residents and selectmen faced heavy developer opposition, with critics calling for better planning and questioning promised projects.
MENTIONED IN THIS ARTICLE
Jarvis
Dover
Planning Board
Zoning Board of Adjustment
P.R
Dover Hills
Justin Brande
Vermont Natural Resources Council
Wilmington
Jack Weller
Also Mentioned on This Page
Virginia Page
Time Magazine
That
Gov. Davis
Edward Hinman
Paper Company
Stratton -Winhall
Stratton Corp
Richard M. Brett
Governor’s Commission On Environmental Control
Woodland Mountains
Brett
Prof
Hubert Vogelman
University of Vermont
Randolph
Eugene Colman
Cavanagh Leasing Corp
Randolph Ersatz Chalet
Bromley
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