|
By Gustave Seelig
Since the late 1960's, Vermont's land-use policy has promoted compact
village settlements surrounded by a working landscape. The Vermont
Housing and Conservation Board (VHCB) has implemented that vision
by funding housing and conservation projects that embrace the principles
of smart growth.
 |
| View
of Burlington Waterfront Apartments in Burlington, Vermont.
|
Vermont's focus on both housing and conservation reflects an ethic
that supports inclusive, vibrant, and livable communities. Vermont's
dedication to the working landscape has led to efforts to conserve
farmland in the state's strongest farming regions. Conservation
of land surrounding settled areas often results in increasing densities
and revitalization of rural villages. It has involved rehabilitating
historic but neglected housing and building new homes that reflect
the scale of surrounding neighborhoods.
Every Vermont community must accommodate growth while conserving
natural resources and providing open space. Vermont's approach has
led to the revitalization of village centers through increased housing,
the creation of pocket parks, public access to lakes and rivers,
and the creation of trail networks. Every county and 100 cities
and towns across the state have benefited from VHCB's investment
in housing and conservation.
Projects that include both housing and conservation components usually
have one of the following characteristics:
-
Environmental limitations and community sensibilities that
make housing and conservation a win/win proposition for a designated
parcel.
-
The conservation of a farm adjacent to a village where a small
area is set aside for dense development.
-
The need for open space in an otherwise densely developed neighborhood.
-
A conservation project that requires limited development as
part of its financing but makes some of the developed land available
for affordable homes.
In 1981, Bernie Sanders, Burlington's new mayor (now a congressman
from Vermont), waged a battle to redevelop a 40-acre industrial
wasteland on Lake Champlain for use by the community. Using the
public trust doctrine, the city engaged in litigation and promoted
legislation to move the project forward.
In 1991, a deal was struck that allowed the city to purchase the
property. Public open space and limited housing were envisioned
for the site. Conservation funding and easements required that at
least half the homes built on the site be affordable.
The city analyzed the site to determine what area should be conserved
and what should be developed. In 2000, a 1.5-acre site was made
available for development through a bidding process won by the Burlington
Community Land Trust, which developed 40 apartments on the property,
32 of them permanently affordable.
Completed in 2004, the building received a LEED certification for
energy efficiency and won one of the Home Depot Foundation's Awards
of Excellence for Affordable Housing Built Responsibly. The site
is close to downtown and adjacent to the waterfront, a bike path,
and the Old North End neighborhood, which has been the focus of
the city's revitalization efforts.
Two AHP Initiatives
In recent years, the rural resort community of Dover has seen rapidly
rising property values and intense development pressure. A concerned
citizen, Edie Moss, donated 42 acres to the Tannery Wildlife Refuge
for conservation and 6.9 acres to the Brattleboro Area Community
Land Trust (BACLT). Adjacent to the Mount Snow ski resort, the site
is a wildlife corridor for moose and bear. BACLT worked with the
community on Butterfield Common, a planned residential development
that received a $300,000 grant from the Federal Home Loan Bank of
Boston's (the Bank) Affordable Housing Program (AHP) and $247,000
from a ski-area housing fund. The new neighborhood will include
seven single-family, limited-appreciation homes, a 26-unit elder
complex, and seven family apartments adjacent to the conservation
area.
 |
View
of Arlington Village, Arlington, Vermont.
|
In Arlington, a one-half-acre village green was created when the
Regional Affordable Housing Corporation assembled seven historic
buildings and constructed 12 new elder apartments to develop the
Arlington Village initiative. A mixed-use, mixed-income development,
Arlington Village was awarded an $875,000 subsidized advance by
the AHP.
Lessons Learned
In the course of developing such projects, municipal officials,
citizens, and developers are seeing the value of framing a comprehensive
vision of community development that views the construction of homes,
community revitalization, and conservation of open space as complementary
activities. Also important is the need to start early and be patient
through the planning and implementation process. In addition, developers
need strong partnerships that maximize expertise from both the housing
and conservation communities.
While such an approach cannot maximize density, profit, or environmental
values sought by the various interest groups, it does lead to the
realization of shared community values. More significant than the
planning of any individual project are the partnerships that have
developed across the housing and conservation communities. In Vermont,
the environmental community has begun an endorsement program for
housing located in smart-growth locations. Working together, the
environmental, agricultural, historic preservation, and housing
communities have succeeded in securing over $190 million from the
legislature to support the development and rehabilitation of 8,000
homes, conservation of 350,000 acres of land, and revitalization
of 43 historic buildings for community use.
Gustave Seelig is executive director of the Vermont Housing &
Conservation Board. He recently completed two three-year terms on
the Bank's Advisory Council.
|
