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Explore our latest coverage of environmental issues, climate change and more.

Regional Planning Commission Questions If Exit 4 Development Fits Regional Plan

VPR/Steve Zind
The District 3 Environmental Commission conducted a site visit earlier this summer to see land proposed for development at Exit 4 in Randolph

The Two Rivers-Ottauquechee Regional Commission (TRORC) is questioning whether a major development planned for Exit 4 on I-89 conforms with the area's regional plan." 

 

The District 3 Environmental Commission is conducting a limited review of the controversial plan that envisions a 1.1 million-square-foot development, including a hotel, housing, light industrial and office space and a visitor center near the interchange.

Any future construction will be subject to a full Act 250 review by the commission.

The partial review largely concerns the use of prime agricultural land at the site, and the developer’s request to use off-site mitigation to compensate for land that will no longer be available for agricultural purposes.

The commission is also weighing whether the proposal conforms to local and regional plans.

In a letter to the commission, Two River-Ottauquechee Regional Commission executive director Peter Gregory says: “The information provided by the applicant and testimony presented at hearings does not provide sufficient information to determine the project’s conformance with the 2014 TRORC Regional plan because the applicant has not clearly defined the project in terms of location, use and potential impacts of development.”

Gregory asks the district environmental commission to deny the applicant's request for approval of the project under the criterion which requires that it conform to local and regional plans.

Clarification Nov. 24, 2015, 10:36 a.m. This story was updated to state that the regional commission has questioned the development, not urged that it be turned down.

Steve has been with VPR since 1994, first serving as host of VPR’s public affairs program and then as a reporter, based in Central Vermont. Many VPR listeners recognize Steve for his special reports from Iran, providing a glimpse of this country that is usually hidden from the rest of the world. Prior to working with VPR, Steve served as program director for WNCS for 17 years, and also worked as news director for WCVR in Randolph. A graduate of Northern Arizona University, Steve also worked for stations in Phoenix and Tucson before moving to Vermont in 1972. Steve has been honored multiple times with national and regional Edward R. Murrow Awards for his VPR reporting, including a 2011 win for best documentary for his report, Afghanistan's Other War.
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