After we left the Navy, and though Wayne had been a resident of Vermont for his entire life, we purchased our first home in NH as the lender wouldn't extend to us enough money to afford a home on the VT side of the river. We asked the realtor to find us a home with more land and less house and he found us a former hunting camp, turned year round house which frankly was ready to be torn down. I had an immediate love affair with our little white and grey camp house that sat on just short of two acres of land and a whole lot of sand.
It was a level parcel with a front yard full of stumps and each stump had a tire painted white on top of it. The backyard had more stumps, dilapidated sheds (one for parties), old car parts and the most beautiful American Beech tree I have ever seen. The driveway was lined with massive Eastern White Pines that every year covered our roofs and the ground with a thick bed of needles. The side lot was made up of Eastern Hemlock, oak, more pine trees and birch. Oh and there was some debate as to whether or not our single car garage had been built over the property line of our neighbors 75 acers of mature woods. But a local builder who had once done some work on the neighbors house assured us that he had witnessed an agreement between the two parties that moved the property line less than a foot to the south in order to make the garage fully within our property.
This is where Wayne and I went on to have three more children. Wayne went to work at VY and in his spare time, with he help of neighbors and family, he rebuilt our phoenix from the sill plate to the shingled roof.
After many good years of building a life there, our neighbors put their house and property up for sale. Had I been smart about it, I would have asked to buy the lot to the side of our garage; but the thought hadn't crossed my mind as we had never had an issue and we couldn't even see their house from ours. New owners moved in and all seemed peaceful.
One day a friend asked me if I had heard that my new neighbors had been approved to build a firewood operation. As abutters, I was surprised that the town hadn't officially notified us of the application and approval of the project. At first, I thought with 75 acres, it wasn't going to be much of an issue; but then other residents on the road began talking about the scale of the operation, logging trucks, dump trucks, buildings, a mill, and an access road. Finally one friend woke me up saying that this landowner planned on trucking logs into the operation which was to be built directly behind our house! The new owners apparently wanted to build their business the furthest they could from their own house.
We inquired with the town and Wayne had a conversation with the neighbor about our area being zoned rural agricultural that ended with our neighbor threatening Wayne with a pig farm. Wayne said to him, "I don't believe that you are a pig farmer." To which he rebutted that our children would not be invited to his grandchild's birthday party and that our garage was on his property.
Ironically, while living in Vernon years later, I won a piglet at the Winchester Pickle Festival which we raised and later gave to our nephew who owns a farm.
I am going into great detail about this to help others understand the lengths to which neighbors will go to settle a disagreement and how having rules in place can settle an issue. We appealed to the town, who said that their hands were tied. That inquiry resulted in our neighbors clear cutting the massive pines all along our shared property lines. This caused our home to shake so violently that I thought it would come clear off of its foundation. I called the town which fined him a prescribed amount for logging without a permit. I should note that it was within his right to cut every other tree on the property line with a permit.
Having received his message loud and clear, I phoned a friend who was familiar with the ins and outs of municipal governing and they suggested that I write a letter to the NH State Attorney General's office. I received a call in short order and was told the following. When a municipality doesn't have zoning in place to address an issue, it defers to state regulations. That in of itself is a pretty powerful tool, but we were covered by zoning and the town had approved the project. The AG continued by informing me that under the state definition of rural agricultural zoning, a farm must produce more product than it processes. They notified the town that our neighbor's proposed business did not fall within the parameters of the designated zoning. The town quickly rescinded its approval.
At this juncture you are probably scratching your heads. Why I would tell a story about Hinsdale, NH? Allow me to explain; many here in Vernon say that we have no zoning in town and so residents and land owners are free to do on their property as they wish. This is true to an extent, but I would argue that we do have a form of zoning in place. Perhaps the word zoning doesn't exactly apply; but please permit me some leniency on the topic. Vernon has a Farmland Conservation Commission and so we have land that will in the foreseeable future, remain as farmland. The Current Use Program is also in play for forested land. These programs limit development on conserved parcels.
We have S2 (and a proposed S1) wetlands which carry with that state designation, restrictions on those wetlands including (among other things), a fifty foot buffer around them. Add to this species of concern and we might need an expert to explain all of the rules pertaining to working around them.
Our town is host to the Roaring Brook Wildlife Management area, a state owned wildlife management area that also has specific permitted uses and restrictions. This is in addition to the Fish and Wildlife owned and managed Hatchery Pond and our Municipal Town Forest, each with their own set of specific rules.
"Vermont law declares that lakes and ponds of the state and the lands lying beneath them are held in public trust for the benefit of all Vermonters."* The Public Trust Doctrine further includes brooks, rivers and ground water.
As any would be developer knows, The Natural Resource Board in Vermont oversees Act 250 permitting, "reviewing and managing the environmental, social and fiscal consequences of major subdivisions and developments in Vermont"**
I only have a tea party knowledge of state zoning and other land use regulations in Vermont. Most of what I understand comes from personal interest in specific aspects of these rules. For example, after moving into Vernon and converting our dining room into a fourth bedroom, the state removed the burden of septic tank and leach field regulations from individual municipalities and now regulates all such systems in the state. If we ever were to replace our system, we would be required to upgrade to a four bedroom system or remove our fourth bedroom. Septic system approval (or not) limits land use.
I hope that I haven't lost you yet because here comes the big finale!
Vernon recently created a designated town center for which they consulted experts and residents to help with planning what the center might encompass in the future. Currently it includes farmland, municipal property, our school, businesses and private homes. Adjacent to this center is the Governor Hunt House recently acquired after considerable strategic planning by the volunteer group, Friends of Vernon Center. The house formerly affiliated with the Vermont Yankee site and gifted to this non-profit group, will become our community center. Grants were applied for and awarded for these projects and those accepting the grants must adhere to their stated use.
Vernon has a selectboard appointed Planning Commission which is charged every eight years with producing the Vernon Town Plan . The next plan is due in 2026. It states right in the introduction that the plan is in part, "...designed to chart a course for development that will benefit future generations..."*
I recently attended by public invitation, a strategic planning event hosted by the Planning Commission and held at the Vernon rec for the purposes of gaining insight from the public regarding the former Vermont Yankee site. Most of the small group in attendance were officially involved with town business in one capacity or another. A few of us were just plain old residents. (The ball game across the street however was packed with spectators!) After a thorough presentation, we were given a sheet of stickers so that we could place a sticker on each of the ideas we thought should be pursued in the event that the town obtains the site in approximately six years. Two of the dots provided were a different color than the others and were to be placed on what we thought to be most important.
I placed my two dots on Conservation & Abenaki. Why? Because aside from valuing conservation, I know that state and federal incentives exist for projects that include these sorts of things in their plans. Low income housing and solar fields also are incentivized and those were choices too. Of course it is possible that the town may choose to set up a Tax Increment Finance District (bonds) instead of pursuing grants, or it may choose to pass altogether on inserting itself into the future of the site.
People who serve on committees, show up to meetings and those who vote, are the ones who help to make decisions. Ordinances, rules and laws are in place because those who showed up, successfully negotiated to put them in place.
Recently a resident expressed what I have heard from many over the years, they wish that Vernon had remained as a part of Hinsdale. They view NH as having more liberties than Vernon does. Because of my response, "you have options" may have on the surface seemed curt to others, I thought that I would dedicate today's blog to explaining myself. -Norma Manning
Existing Land Use Town of Vernon VT, May 2018
**Natural Resources Board, Act 250 Program
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