(917) 648-4921 [email protected]
Total Page:16
File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb
Gary von Stange Chair, Shelburne Selectboard 548 Ridgefield Road Shelburne, VT 05482 (802) 651-6970; (917) 648-4921 [email protected] January 28, 2016 Dear Senator Leahy, Senator Sanders, Congressman Welch and Governor Shumlin: I write as Chair of the Shelburne Selectboard to ask for your help. We need you. We have a Town that we love. Still, our most pressing desire is to provide for the safety of our residents. Our Town is being threatened on so many levels. Vermont Railways (VTR) purchased a 32 acre parcel of land from Northern Vermont Financial Corp. on or about December 28, 2015. VTR is planning an intermodal facility for this parcel primarily for the purpose of storing and distributing salt. Potentially, other material such as fuel and chemicals also could be stored on location. It is understood that this project could extend to include the sale of gas. The Town has expressed serious and significant safety and environmental concerns to VTR. In response, VTR simply asserts, to which the Town disagrees, that it is exempt from local and state land use regulations. If true, and VTR is operating under this assertion, then this project will not be publically vetted nor will it need to go before the Shelburne Development Review Board to present any information let alone receive permits, as required for every other project. David Wulfson, VTR President and a Shelburne resident, presented an extremely vague, ambiguous and incomplete outline of his plans to the Selectboard on January 5 and January 12. His claimed offer of cooperation was accompanied by a refusal to provide substantive details for the project. Rather than working with the Town, he instead had his attorney provide incomplete, misleading and self-serving case law to the Selectboard, and Mr. Wulfson refused to cooperate and engage in constructive dialogue stating words to the effect that “you’re just going to have to trust me.” Since those meetings, demolition has started. The Town requested a site visit. VTR refused to permit that visit. Instead, VTR filed opposition papers before the ACT 250 Panel to oppose the Town’s request and continue to shroud the project in secrecy. VTR cut trees to the water’s edge without a permit. The Town understands that VTR is negotiating to purchase property on Bay Road, seeking an access road from Route 7 to Bay Road. The Town does not know details because VTR refuses to provide any. It also appears that VTR has deliberately provided lowball information regarding the scope of the project. One report is that this facility will be the third largest salt distribution facility in the United States. Again, because VTR refuses to provide details, it is impossible for anyone to 1 fully understand the impact of the project. The Town also understands environmental contamination may be at issue. Again, VTR refuses to provide substantive information. The Town Manager issued a notice of zoning violation to VTR. VTR’s response was to close the parking area at the Town Center next to the firehouse and behind the library, adjacent to the non-utilized railroad station. VTR placed many large concrete blocks on the road and gated off the area. Mr. Wulfson stated that he intends to place railroad equipment there. In my seven years on the Shelburne Selectboard, I have never seen such callous conduct that so blatantly disregards the safety of students, firefighters, police and rescue squads. By closing this road off, he has increased response time for fire and police to Shelburne Community and the Waldorf Schools by five minutes. Think of what that means to the safety of all schoolchildren as well as everyone who uses those schools. In addition, this gating has added time for our volunteer firefighters to travel to the firehouse to serve on a call. Those firefighters now have to travel to the congested intersection of Harbor Road and Route 7, and await a traffic signal and then turn right on Route 7 to get to the firehouse. He has reduced the opportunity of success for people needing police and fire assistance. He has severely and negatively impacted the safety of our children. Should this intermodal facility go forward, it will not only change the character of our downtown, it will also: 1. negatively impact traffic safety by substantially increasing truck activity through the center of Town, 2. elevate safety concerns for children biking and walking to and from Shelburne Community and The Waldorf Schools, 3. magnify existing traffic problems in Town, particularly during snow events, 4. require an additional traffic light and lane on Route Seven, 5. produce noise impacts, VTR stating that the trucks have 102 decibel back-up alarms, louder than Shelburne Museum concerts, 6. severely and adversely impact the environment, 7. foster potentially extreme storm-water runoff issues, 8. cause significant additional response time for rescue, fire and police, 9. advance related train concerns, and 10. effectively void a Town recreational easement. At this time, impacts are unknown and may remain unknown until the project is built because it will not be vetted through the normal Town permitting process. At the public Selectboard meeting on January 5th, I asked Mr. Wulfson how many trucks would be coming in and out of the facility. He refused to answer. Instead, that night he focused on VTR’s position is that it is exempt from Shelburne’s normal permitting process and that it is not required to go before the Town’s Development Review Board. 2 To the Town’s knowledge: no traffic studies have been undertaken, no environmental impact studies have been undertaken, no safety studies have been undertaken, and no studies designed to ascertain the impact of this project on the Town’s Village Center have been done. The only study of which we are aware, and one that VTR did not reference in any of its papers or presentations, was a 2000 Study commissioned by the State of Vermont and paid for by Vermont taxpayers that summarized the identification and evaluation of the sites considered for railyards in Vermont. In regard to this particular site, the Study states: Shelburne Site. The Shelburne Site is located south of Bay Road adjacent to the VTR main line. The Platte River passes to the west of the approximately 24-acre site that is owned by VTR. It is located five miles south of the existing rail yard. Some industrial and commercial facilities exist in this area. A significant construction boom has led to the development of many new single family homes along Bay Road. While there is potential for some economical development in the area, it would require significant investment by the state to completely build and upgrade the required infrastructure. Using the current street network, the parcel is 1.2 miles from Route 7 and over 3 miles from 189. The existing streets and land use would not be compatible for trucking operations necessitating the construction of a new access road. Environmental review of this site indicates a small portion of wetlands and floodplains. So the State has already studied and concluded that this operation - - an operation if permitted to proceed without regard to state and Town laws and regulations will bring thousands and thousands of trucks to the heart of Shelburne as well as cause outrageous safety and environmental problems - - is not “compatible for trucking operations necessitating the construction of a new access road.” The Town filed a Complaint and Motion for Preliminary Injunction in Environmental Court on Monday January 25th. The next day, VTR filed an action seeking declaratory and injunctive relief in Federal Court. VTR filed a motion for removal and consolidation yesterday. The Shelburne Selectboard meeting on January 26th included participation by State Senators Baruth, Ashe, Sirotkin and Lyons, Representatives Lenes and Webb, and Karen Horn of the Vermont League of Cities and Towns. Thankfully, all legislators present stated they were interested in helping the Town. With little notice, it is believed that approximately 200 residents attended that meeting, many of whom expressed real concerns about the project, addressing issues that include VTR’s secrecy and its absolute failure to provide details, and most importantly, the significant safety, health and welfare issues caused by the project, and the numerous environmental harms. Included in those who expressed concerns was Shelburne School Board Chair David Connery who spoke about the impact of the project on Shelburne’s school children, in particular the numerous safety issues already caused by and expected to be caused by the project. The Nature Conservancy submitted a letter to the Act 250 Panel that heard a portion of this matter, which was read in part at the January 26th meeting. That letter provided in pertinent part: 3 The Nature Conservancy has concluded that the proposed development of the Shelburne Transload facility undermines a special natural resource of local, regional and statewide significance. We have serious concerns that the proposed storage of salt, fuel and vehicles in such close proximity to the river will be a threat to the water quality and wildlife habitat of this state significant natural area and its rare species. The developers of the proposed facility are attempting to waive all responsibility to obtain environmental permits which lends credence to our belief that this proposed facility is a threat to sensitive natural resources. We have no assurance that this project will be properly sited, built and managed. We do not believe that this is an appropriate location for such an industrial facility. We believe that the proposed development will have irreversible and undue adverse impacts on natural resources and the environment including the outstanding natural resources of statewide significance, the high quality floodplain forest, the rare, threatened and endangered species, and the continued public use and enjoyment of a wilderness-like area in a suburbanized/urban setting in Chittenden County.