Plainfield voters are being asked to weigh in on an ambitious, and controversial, plan to develop a new housing project in town.
In what’s an otherwise quiet Election Day in most of the state, the Plainfield Select Board on Nov. 4 is asking for approval to borrow up to $600,000 to purchase a roughly 24-acre parcel near the center of town.
If voters approve the question, the town hopes to move ahead with a plan to develop public roads, utility connections and other infrastructure to support the construction of an estimated 40 homes on the land.
The proposal follows two years of devastating flooding in Plainfield that wiped out about 40 homes.
“We live in a new world of climate change,” said Arion Thiboumery, a member of the town committee that has been working on the project. “Things are fundamentally different. We can’t stop the rivers from flowing and the floods from coming. We need to get out of the way.”
The town wants to apply for a state grant of up to $10 million to pay for the infrastructure work on the land.
The town would partner with developers to build the housing rather than undertake that itself, Thiboumery said.
“We live in a new world of climate change. Things are fundamentally different. We can’t stop the rivers from flowing and the floods from coming. We need to get out of the way.”Arion Thiboumery, member of East Village Expansion Advisory Committee
He says the plan is the town’s best chance to keep homes near the town center and support the future growth of Plainfield.
“We’ve lost a significant core of our village,” he said. “I think it’s going be a really beautiful little neighborhood that brings vibrancy back to the town.”
The town has been holding public forums on the proposal, and some opposition has cropped up.
“I just don’t think that the little, tiny town of Plainfield is in a great position to be developing an entire community,” said Liz Perreault, who served on the same committee with Thiboumery. “I wanted to explore this idea, and I was very hopeful, but the deeper we got into it the more I came to the conclusion that this wasn’t really a good solution.”
Perreault thinks the town is rushing ahead because this land became available and because the grant application period opened.
She doesn’t think there will be interest in squeezing up to 40 homes on the property, and she thinks it is a big risk for the town to commit to such a large project.
“I don’t think quick growth is the proper way for Plainfield to move,” she said. “I think smaller, incremental, thoughtful growth will be more beneficial.”
“I just don’t think that the little, tiny town of Plainfield is in a great position to be developing an entire community."Liz Perreault, member of the East Village Expansion Advisory Committee
The costs for the project have grown since the idea was first introduced, increasing from about $2.5 million to an estimated $8 million.
Opponents have also raised environmental concerns.
Only about 11 acres are developable, with the rest protected by wetlands regulations, but opponents are still concerned about building so close to an environmentally sensitive area.
But the Nov. 4 vote might, or might not, be the final word on the project.
Supporters say there might be some people who want to see the development, but don’t want the town to borrow the $600,000 for the land purchase.
So they could vote “no,” on Nov. 4, but then try to move the project forward.
And likewise, a “yes” vote only means the town can purchase the land, but the town says it will not move forward if it does not get the $10 million grant, which is very much an open question.
There have been passionate debates on social media, and in town.
And the outcome of the vote will likely continue the debate in Plainfield over how a small village that was built around its rivers can survive the further threats of climate change.
