[B]ENNINGTON — A proposed subdivision a short walk from the Bennington Battle Monument has sparked concern among residents of Old Bennington.
The proposed site is a home on Monument Avenue, within sight of the village’s historic 306-foot obelisk commemorating the 1777 Revolutionary War battle. Behind the home and surrounding 1.3 acres is a 6.5-acre parcel of meadow and trees, where new lots would be created, according to the proposal. An access way would be provided to the meadow from Walloomsac Road.
The owners have made it known that they would prefer to sell the property to neighbors, other residents or the village so that it could be preserved as meadowland.
The Old Bennington trustees discussed the proposal on Tuesday with several residents in attendance. Board members said the village had received a letter, also sent to a number of residents, by one of the property owners, Lodie Colvin, describing what led to the decision to propose subdividing the acreage.
In the May 19 letter Colvin said she and the other beneficiaries of the estate of her mother, the late Hope J. Graves, had been unsuccessful in their attempts to sell the family homestead as one piece. Graves died in July 2013.
“Some buyers have expressed an interest in just the home, while others have entertained the purchase of the meadow,” Colvin wrote.
A provision of her mother’s will referred to keeping the property intact, she said, but Colvin and attorney Robert Cummings Jr., co-executors of the estate, recently sought and were granted permission in probate court to subdivide the property.
In her letter, Colvin said survey work has been done on the property, and the owners plan to seek village approval to create an 80,000-square-foot lot around the home, along with two or three lots from the remaining 6.54 acres of meadow.
Village officials said Tuesday that no plan has yet been received, adding that the Planning Commission would be first to review the proposal.
Colvin added in her letter: “Before we relist the property, we are offering the 6.54 acres to abutting and neighboring owners, as well as to the village itself, who may see the benefit of controlling this parcel as an important asset to their own property value. Taxes on the parcel would be based on non-developable land if you chose to make that part of the deed of sale.”
Trustee Ron Rabidou and other board members indicated that they would like to see whether abutters or other residents will acquire the meadow property before considering whether the village should become involved in trying to preserve the open land.
Colvin went on to say that the property “will be back on the market soon. The house at $399,000 and the meadow will be listed at $99,500. The entire property will be listed at $498,500.”
She added, “It is our desire to keep the meadow in its current state. I grew up here … It is an emotional sale for me, and I am eager to find a path that keeps the neighborhood as special as it always has been.”
Realtor Kathleen Hoisington, who listed the property previously, said Wednesday that it is not yet back on the market.
