A hotel development project off Interstate 89 in Randolph is finishing up the final stages of its approval process, but developers are continuing to field concerns from activists about its effect on the surrounding environment.
The Hilton/Hampton Hotel and Conference Center received permit approval from the Randolph Development Review Board in July, said Paul Rea, a member of the five-person development group, FARM Developing LLC. Now, Rea and his partners are awaiting final approval from the Act 250 commission in Orange County, which ensures that all projects meet the standards of Vermont’s primary land use and development law.
The hotel will have 79 rooms and the conference center will be able to seat 400. A 4,000-square-foot restaurant is also included in the project, which will be leased out to a semi-local vendor. Rea said he thinks the project will bring needed economic stimulus to the area and make it more convenient for tourists looking to experience Vermont’s outdoors. When built, it would be the only large-scale hotel between White River Junction and Berlin. Rea said it would cost about $10 million to fully construct.
“We’re all stepping up to create a better economy in the area,” he said. “We want to promote Randolph.”
Similar development projects in the same area around exit 4 off have met resistance and failed to move forward out of concerns for their environmental impacts. Developer Jesse “Sam” Sammis attempted to build a hotel and a mixed-use commercial project for years, but was blocked by environmentalists who eventually bought the land and turned it over to conservationists.
While this Hilton hotel hasn’t seen as rigorous a pushback, at the Oct. 4 Act 250 hearing a representative of the grassroots organization Exit 4 Open Space voiced concerns about traffic congestion, noise and light pollution, and the potential negative impact on business in downtown Randolph.
Brooke Dingledine said Exit 4 Open Space is not trying to block the project from moving forward but rather to make sure those concerns are addressed by developers before they receive their final approval.
“We’re ensuring that this is a process that follows the law,” Dingledine said. “And that it’s not a nod and wink process.”
The Vermont Natural Resources Council also has concerns about the project. Kate McCarthy, sustainable communities program director, said the council is concerned that the developers chose to build the hotel away from Randolph’s downtown hub, which keeps visitors from visiting already established local businesses. The council is not actively involved in the project’s Act 250 approval process and has not voiced these concerns to the development group, McCarthy said.
A recess order was issued by the commission Oct. 9 requesting more information from the developers before moving forward in the Act 250 approval process. The commission asked that developers submit a noise monitoring and management plan for the events held on the property, a traffic safety plan and an explanation of the kind of lighting would be used for a sign on the property — all of which is due to the commission Nov. 6.
Rea said he and the other developers want to cooperate with government officials and environmentalists in order to finalize the project. He said he’s confident they’ll get the Act 250 approval and that construction will begin on the project by March 2020.
