Ski village proposal elicits many questions
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Killington planning officials and the public peppered representatives of SP Land Co. with questions at the town offices Wednesday night, during the first public presentation of the ski village proposal for the base of Killington Resort. CRISTINA KUMKA / Rutland Herald |
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By Cristina Kumka Staff Writer - Published: May 29, 2009
KILLINGTON — It's a development years in the making, but Wednesday, SP Land Co.'s ski village proposal elicited more questions from the public and the town's planner.
It was agreed that the 408-acre village, the largest development ever proposed for the town, would draw more traffic and people to the Killington area, but other than that, the Planning Commission and residents who attended wanted more information on what the development would mean for the town.
Town Planner Dick Horner argued that more specifics were needed on what impact a new road network, resort parking configuration, and increased wastewater drainage would have on the town.
The ski village application calls for 1,972 units of housing - from hotel rooms, to rentals, to single-family homes - out of a maximum number of 3,554 units allowable under town zoning. The total square footage of all the new structures proposed is 3,298,289 out of a total maximum of 3,300,000.
Horner and the commission weeded through 28 specific town zoning requirements for the development and began to make recommendations to SP Land Co., but with nearly each requirement, Horner said more information was needed for the town officials to come to an agreement on the general layout of the village.
SP Land Co.'s 37-page application doesn't include detailed engineering plans or financial information.
"You are asking the town to approve a certain density, and we need a certain level of detail to know that those roadways would work to accommodate our municipal services," Horner said.
SP Land Co. President Steve Selbo and his planning consultant, Julie Beth Hinds, told the commission they needed the framework of the project approved before they could conduct more studies and get more answers.
"There is nothing in the state or your statutes that says you can't grant approval without contingencies," Hinds said.
Residents and local business owners, for the most part, sided with Horner, asking Selbo for more detail.
"We are at a critical stage of planning," former longtime Selectmen Norman Holcomb said. "I would hope this applicant would present the community with enough traffic information to avoid a big blunder. We do need that detail in the conceptual plan."
In the end, the Planning Commission asked Hinds and Horner to meet before the plan was discussed further.
On Thursday, Selbo said there was no value put on the project and there was no telling how much money a completed project would add to the town's tax base when completed.
The next meeting on the ski village application is scheduled for June 10 at the Killington Town Offices on River Road. For more information, call the Killington Planning Office at 422-3242.
cristina.kumka@rutlandherald.com
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