Opponents of a planned mixed-use development off Interstate 89 at Exit 4 in Randolph met with Gov. Peter Shumlin last week to request his support in their efforts to block the project.
The group, Exit 4 Open Space, presented Shumlin with a petition signed by nearly 1,000 people. The residents of Randolph and Central Vermont are calling on the governor to oppose the 172 acre development. Green Mountain Center would rival Williston’s Maple Tree Place as one of the largest residential and commercial developments in the state.
Shumlin’s spokesman Scott Coriell did not respond to requests for comment, but the governor has supported the project in the past.
“Should the project be approved, to me the exciting part of the project for Vermont is we will get a free rest area, paid for by the folks who developed the land, including staffing, in a public-private partnership that has never been done before. So in other words, Vermonters get a rest area at no cost to taxpayers,” he told WCAX in July.
Exit 4 Open Space says the development would destroy prime agricultural land. Area farmers said in a statement that the loss of land to development would hurt the viability of farming in the area.
The proposed development is currently under Act 250 review by the District 3 Environmental Commission. Last month it requested that developer Jesse Sammis submit a more compact design plan for the 172 acre plot in order to protect certain agricultural soils.
Another hearing on the matter was scheduled for Sept. 25.