ARLINGTON — The Arlington Selectboard has decided to reopen public discussion on a plan to buy 420 acres of mountainous land for hiking and biking, reviving a proposal it squashed in February.
In the spring of 2018, a group of residents created the Arlington Renewal Project, hoping to encourage community growth and bring more visitors to town. An activities committee surveyed residents and found that 80% out of 200 wanted more access to walking trails.
The town of 2,662 has a 1-mile trail at a recreation center. It’s one of two towns in Bennington County without recreational access in the town forest. The other is Sandgate, with a population of 413. So when members of the Renewal Project met with The Conservation Fund in 2019 and learned that Red Mountain, a parcel in the northeastern section of town, was for sale, they jumped.
Led by Hooper Pickering, a history teacher at Arlington Memorial High School, and Ron Weber, head of the Arlington Recreation and Park Committee, the group pitched the idea of purchasing the property to the selectboard and won grants from the Vermont Housing & Conservation Board, the Vermont Land Trust and The Conservation Fund. The group also received more than $82,000 in donations.
In total, the group has secured $327,000 for the project, more than the total expected cost of $287,000.
Donald Campbell, southern Vermont regional director for the Vermont Land Trust, is an adviser to the project.
“I think a lot of the people that donated to this project see this town forest as being something that fits squarely into the Arlington Renewal goals of making a community healthier and happier, and getting people outside and supporting the economy, and making it a place that people want to live,” he said.
Project advocates need a majority vote from the selectboard to buy the property. Some selectboard members began to express reservations as the process progressed, saying project advocates were too hasty and represented the acquisition to some as a done deal.
Though the purchase price won’t affect taxpayers, several board members worried about access to the land, possible liability issues involved with steep terrain, and proper maintenance of trails to ensure that nearby tributaries, which empty into the Battenkill, aren’t affected.
When a group of residents who live on Wilcox Road, at the base of the mountain, learned that organizers of the project had proposed a trail access from a cul-de-sac at the end of their street, they mobilized to oppose the project. One of the homeowners, Larry Poletti, wrote a letter to the board with 57 signatures objecting to the trails in late January.
The letter was the final straw for some board members. On Feb. 8, they voted 4-1 to terminate the project, citing access issues as their chief concern.
Since then, project advocates have won back their ear — for now.
At a meeting last Monday, the selectboard reopened it for debate, allowing the Arlington Recreation and Park Committee and the Renewal Project’s Activities Committee to present a formal proposal to town residents. The board will make a final decision before the end of April.
So far, board members appear to be split.Â
Traffic, access and conservation debates
Poletti said in his letter to the selectboard that the “park is unnecessary because local people have been using the Red Mountain land and trails for years.” The cul-de-sac, he said, is for emergency vehicles, not for parking.
“Residents are totally opposed to this from all over town,” Poletti said.
Seleboard member Cynthia Browning and chair Dan Harvey both said the issue is more complicated than it looks.
“Basically, there’s nobody on the board that opposes conservation of land necessarily, but this particular parcel is extremely problematic,” Harvey said.
Access is one of the most contentious issues surrounding the project. Hikers now have two ways to enter the property — off a private road with a small right of way, and off Wilcox Road, which has a logging easement.
The committees’ proposal names several residents whose land abuts the mountain and say they’ll allow hiker access through their properties.
Most of the parcel is already conserved, according to the town’s zoning bylaws, Harvey and Browning both said, because all but 10 acres are above 1,200 feet of elevation. Harvey also said he imagines The Conservation Fund, which owns the parcel now, will prioritize conservation when it chooses a buyer.
While project advocates said the trail will improve environmental stewardship of the parcel, Browning, who has been heavily involved in conservation of the Battenkill, said she’s concerned about how the trails might affect nearby tributaries.
“It’s essentially a long mountaintop, and there’s like five different tributaries to the Battenkill that have headwaters up there,” she said. “So it’s really important that any kind of trails and stream crossings are well taken care of. And I want to be sure that the town has the resources to do that.”
In a letter to the board, Jacob Fetterman — who works for a local chapter of Trout Unlimited, a national conservation organization — emphasized the need for proper trail maintenance. When the board presented his letter as opposition to the project, he sent an email to clarify, noting Trout Unlimited’s support for the project’s conservation goals.
“I think a conservation effort in this area would be of significant benefit and could address existing issues while ensuring that any new trail development minimizes potential impacts,” he said.
Harvey formerly worked for the U.S. Forest Service in Wyoming and said the steepness of the trails could make them expensive to maintain.
The committees pursuing the project have secured a $25,000 endowment from the Vermont Land Trust for trail maintenance. Todd Wilkins, the sole selectboard member who voted in February to continue the project, said he’s watched other towns take on similar projects and isn’t worried about the maintenance costs.
He said the Green Mountain Club has established a system of donations and volunteer support to maintain trails, as have other municipalities.
“We’re not reinventing the wheel here,” he said. “There’s absolutely money out there to help with the infrastructure with the maintenance.”
Gov. Phil Scott recently approved $10 million for recreation projects in Vermont, which could help Arlington, Wilkins said — adding that, if the town doesn’t buy the property, a private buyer could close off public access.Â
223 signatures
Weber, head of the Arlington Recreation and Park Committee, said he was shocked when the selectboard voted against the project in February.
The meeting was billed as an opportunity for both sides to present their cases, to be followed by further discussion.
“We were just taken aback, I guess,” he said. “Surprised to a point of quietness.”
He said he began hearing from residents and agencies urging that the project be pursued, and now he feels optimistic that, though some selectboard members are still hesitant, a majority could eventually vote for the plan.
“I think we have enough interest and backup support from other groups to be able to answer the town’s questions,” he said.
The proposal, presented last Monday night and crafted by Pickering and Weber, includes letters from a number of residents and businesses that support the project. It notes that, between the checks and letters, they’ve amassed 223 signatures in favor of pushing forward.
“This is four times the five signatures against, reportedly submitted to the selectboard at the Feb. 8 meeting,” the proposal says.
Because the issue has captured the attention of many locals, Wilkins said he’s considering asking for a townwide vote.
“I am a supporter of giving our community options for outdoor recreation,” he said. “Obviously, there are some concerns by some of our community members, but I think that we can work collaboratively to address some of those concerns.”