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Forest Dale Development Ready For Act 250, Could Add 70 House Lots

Monday December 25, 2006

By Ed Barna

    When Otter Valley Union High School proposed a $10.3 million bond issue this fall, critics argued that the school population was not projected to increase to any degree that matched the proposed expenditure.

    Taxpayers in Brandon have been saying for years that taxes are too high, and officials have been trying for years to attract new businesses-but have hit the obstacle that there isn't any large pool of workers or enough housing to attract them.

    Now a proposed 70-lot development in Forest Dale has the potential to ease both problems. The Woods at Spring Pond, just south of the existing Forrest Brook development community along Route 53 (North Street), just had the last piece of its Act 250 application fit into place.

    On Monday, Dec. 18, the Select Board agreed to allocate 29,980 gallons per day of sewer plant processing capacity to Spring Pond, which as designed would be linked to the rest of the town system despite having sandy soils that might work for septic systems. (The looser soil may help with the cost of building houses, because it is easier to excavate than clay in preparing foundations, according to Hanford “Skip” Davis, whose Brandon company Davis & Associates will market Spring Pond.)

    The sewer plant has plenty of capacity for that, according to Town Manager Keith Arlund. There are other complications, related to the fact that Spring Pond is three miles from the sewer plant at the end of the lines for the system, but in the end the development is expected to help that part of the sewer net to upgrade.

    This development, which sailed through the local Development Review Board process, was a case of “When it's buildable, they will come.” Davis and his wife happened to be vacationing near the Maryland home of a friend of hers, who happened to be married to Robert Hockaday. Hockaday had been a city zoning administrator in that state, but having learned the ropes (or red tapes) had become a developer himself.

    When the couples got together, Davis and Hockaday were talking shop, and Davis mentioned a nice tract of land that looked as if it was ripe for “infill” development. In Brandon's planning, that's an important word: rather than spread new housing around and strain emergency and utility services, site it in gaps, between what already exists.

    Hockaday called Davis's office a week later and said, “I want to see that land.” Davis said his reaction was, “You could have knocked me over with a feather.”
Hockaday, came and according to Davis, quickly scoped out the 65.1 acres' potential and potential problems. In the end, he bought in, and by now has enlisted Otter Creek Engineering of East Middlebury, Naylor & Breen Builders of Brandon, and attorney James Leary of Brandon in his bid to create house-ready lots there.

    Rather than created rubber-stamp houses on postage-stamp lots like many creators of mini-suburbias, Hockaday will grade the westward-sloping land into flatter terraces; use a series of ponds on those flat areas as stormwater filtering areas leading ultimately to much larger Spring Pond; create a network of paved roads that meet state Transportation Agency A76 standards (which the town requires of any roads that it takes over to maintain and plow); put in the sewer and water and electrical lines (the latter undergrounded); and let individual builders and their clients decide what to put up. There will be a few limits: there will have to be a homeowners association to care for the common area and conservation areas and walkway and the bodies of water, and it will make sure each new house fits in well enough with the neighborhood to avoid being offensive.

    The previous information came from a Development Review Board meeting Oct. 26. Also at that meeting, Davis shared some thoughts on the likely purchasers of the lots.

    To understand his comments, it's important to know that people experienced in the housing sector see two kinds of affordability problems: a simple lack of properties that sell for less; and missing steps on the “ladder” by which people typically go from “starter” homes to something bigger and more fully featured as their families grow and their careers advance.

    Spring Pond wouldn't be “affordable” in the first sense, but Davis said some of the resulting houses  should appeal to people seeking to “move up,” which others would be attractive to “empty nesters” or those seeking to retire to the area, who would then put their old family-suitable homes on the market.

    With lots selling from the upper 50,000 to lower 80,000 range, there would probably be some $200-250,000 houses good for young families, while those in the $300-400,000 range would attract the older purchasers.

    Those figures could be affected by the recent national housing market slump, or the buildout could be affected by reduced demand. But in any case, Davis said on December 20 that the Act 250 application will be submitted in Rutland “soon.”

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