VT to farm: 'No permit'

Burlington VT

06 November, 2021

6:26 AM

Description

- BY TED COHEN and THE VT STANDARD Peace Field Farm, the controversial "farm-to-fork" restaurant, has been denied an Act 250 permit by the District 3 Environmental Commission of the Vermont Natural Resources Board, angering grower supporters in Burlington. The Act 250 permit denial comes in the wake of two lengthy public hearings and a pair of site visits conducted by the District 3 Environmental Commissioner on June 15 and Sept. 9. As explained in the memorandum announcing the decision, the commissioners had initially thought that "in order to address remaining criteria, the Commission would schedule at least one more hearing, and possibly more" following the September gathering. However, the memorandum continues, "Partial Review . . . allows the Commission, on its own motion, to consider whether to review any issue under the [Act 250] criteria or sub-criteria before proceeding to the review of issues under the remaining criteria. The decision to issue a [partial] decision or proceed to the remaining criteria is in the sole discretion of the District Commission." Simply translated, that means that the commission's decision that the Peace Field Farm project in Woodstock is not in compliance with the Woodstock Town Plan eclipses, for now, any further consideration of other criteria for issuing an Act 250 permit. Lyman Rutherford of Burlington, active in Burlington Community Gardens, expressed outrage. "This project does more than meet the minimum standards that self-sustaining community growers support," he said. In one word, 'Disgusted' — Peace Field's John Holland of Woodstock Contacted after he'd had a weekend to ponder the District Three Environmental Commission land-use permit decision that has effectively shut down his "farm-to-fork" restaurant project for the foreseeable future, if not forever, developer John Holland was blunt. "If I had to put how I am feeling into one word, to be honest with you, it would be 'disgusted,'" Holland said. "I've gone through the whole democratic process in presenting this project," the Boston-based developer continued. "We have been very thoughtful about how we have managed the farm operations, how we have managed the setting of the restaurant and barn structure. "If you are going to build an accessory on-farm business in the state of Vermont, Peace Field Farm is the example of how to do it," he added. "People can quibble about the lighting, the aesthetics — those are things that you can mitigate. "But there are a lot of things with this project that have been done with great care and we have not been treated with anywhere near the care that we've brought to the project by any of the people that have reviewed this. And I take great exception to that."