PUTNEY — Virginia Ray's article described how a permit for a Windham-Windsor Housing Trust project in Putney, issued by the Putney Development Review Board (DRB) on March 9, 2022, "allows the land to be subdivided into two parcels."
The reporter may have been misinformed.
The deed registered in the Putney town record for the sale to Windham-Windsor Housing Trust dated Sept. 18, 2023 describes the land as three parcels: one parcel described as Lot B, purportedly being sold to the Community Garden, a.k.a. Green Commons of Vermont, and two other parcels, described as lot 1A and lot 1B.
When I asked the town clerk if it was one lot or two, he answered it's three lots. What quantifies lot 1A and lot 1B as separate is the fact that they are named with one numeral indicating common ownership while calling them separate parcel 1A and parcel 1B. The other distinguishing factor is that lot 1A and lot 1B are divided by a road and the parcels are not contiguous.
The current appeal in Vermont Environmental Court is asking the court to require a land use review to determine if the density fits in the definition of affordable housing.
If the review reveals that the parcels (lots) are separated by a road and not contiguous, the developers who have purchased the land will have to redesign the development to accommodate the current zoning regulations in Putney, which would allow 11 units on the 9/10ths of an acre.
This Voices Letters from readers was submitted to The Commons.