(This story is by Emily Greenberg, a freelance writer in Charlotte who contributes to several Vermont-based publications. She has also written for periodicals in Washington state and New York state.)
[C]HARLOTTE — The town Conservation Commission says a planned housing development on a parcel next to Mount Philo State Park could hurt wildlife by further eroding essential habitat.
The panel is recommending the proposal be scaled back.
“Every parcel of land has unique characteristics which is part of what makes Charlotte so special, and why people want to buy, build and live here,” said Linda Radimer, a Conservation Commission member who also served on the Planning Commission for 13 years. “But we’re losing and getting fragmentation of our woodlands, or what’s left of them.”
The proposal would divide an 88-acre parcel on the corner of Mount Philo Road and One Mile Road into nine lots. The application for a major subdivision was submitted by KR Properties LLC and McCain Consulting Inc. last year. The Krasnow family has owned the property for 40 years and lives on it.
The project seeks to develop parts of the property the town defines as areas of high public value. Such areas include but are not limited to wildlife habitat, wetlands and scenic vistas.
Charlotte’s land use regulations say a major subdivision can’t be approved if it will “have an undue adverse impact” on areas of high public value.
In a letter dated Nov. 30, the Conservation Commission outlined its concerns to the Planning Commission after visiting the site earlier in the month. The volunteer conservation panel advises the Planning Commission on the effect of development on natural resources.
The development’s proposed layout includes a “nature corridor,” an area of open space that would run from north to south near the center of the property. But the Conservation Commission indicated it sees that as insufficient.
The site visit and letter focused specifically on three intended lots in the southwest portion of the property. These lots, according to the Conservation Commission, serve as an essential wildlife corridor connecting animals from one forest to the next.
“The development will cut into a wildlife corridor connecting two of the most important wildlife areas in Charlotte, Mount Philo and Pease Mountain,” Vice Chair Roelof Boumans, an ecologist, wrote in the letter. “We expect that if this development is approved it will cause a reduction in habitat potential in both of these areas.”
Neither the Krasnows nor McCain Consulting could be reached for comment for this story.
In an effort to protect areas of high public value from development, the Conservation Commission created the Charlotte significant wildlife habitat map, utilizing input from the Vermont Department of Fish and Wildlife and consulting ecologists. The map serves as a reference for the Planning Commission when deliberating on possible development.
These mapped areas include what is known as core habitat. That is defined as forested land that is at least 100 meters from the nearest human activity. The Conservation Commission aims to leave these areas undisturbed.
In a third-party environmental impact assessment prepared for the town regarding the Krasnow proposal, ecologist and wildlife biologist Jeff Parsons of Arrowwood Environmental also cited concerns with the three southwestern lots, which are partly within core habitat. The report recommends that lots mapped within core habitat should be moved or eliminated.
“If core and forest habitat were eliminated from Charlotte and the town was left with all small woodlots and edge-dominated human-altered landscapes, wildlife populations of all but the most tolerant species of wildlife would suffer,” Parsons wrote in the report.
The Fish and Wildlife Department says forest habitat is of great concern in places like Charlotte. According to a 2014 department study that looked at habitat blocks and habitat connectivity for wildlife, forest habitat in bedroom communities outside population centers like Burlington or Rutland faces the greatest potential threat from development, as populations in those towns continue to grow.
The 2015 state of Vermont wildlife action plan, currently under revision, ranked the conversion of large forest blocks for housing development and fragmentation of habitat that disrupts the movement of animals as high threats to the health of wildlife.
Core habitat has arisen as a concern in other development proposal in town, including a 2014 major subdivision application for nine homes on 52 acres off Spear Street. A final decision was never reached in that case. The applicant, Benjamin Avery of Black Rock Construction, chose to drop the project.
“The decision to exit the project was purely economic,” Avery said. “But Charlotte is not the easiest town to work with from a development standpoint. Volunteer boards want to limit change and growth, which can be a roadblock.”
A town Planning Commission meeting Dec. 1 marked the end of the preliminary hearing for the Krasnow project. From that date, the Planning Commission has 45 days to issue a response to the proposal before a final hearing is scheduled.
The proposal calls for fewer lots than potentially would be allowed under the town land use regulations. A parcel can be subdivided down to 5 acres per unit, meaning this one theoretically would be eligible for 17 lots.
“I don’t think their plan is far off,” Radimer said. “But we need to keep houses out of core habitat.”
