BRIDPORT TOWN PLAN 2017 - 2024 JANUARY 2017 t a b l e o f c o n t e n t s INTRODUCTION _______________________________________________________ 1 HISTORY ___________________________________________________________ 2 POPULATION ________________________________________________________ 9 HOUSING __________________________________________________________ 11 ECONOMY _________________________________________________________ 18 EDUCATION ________________________________________________________ 21 COMMUNITY FACILITIES, SERVICES AND ORGANIZATIONS _______________________ 24 PUBLIC UTILITIES AND ENERGY __________________________________________ 32 TRANSPORTATION ___________________________________________________ 37 NATURAL RESOURCES ________________________________________________ 41 LAND USE _________________________________________________________ 53 COMPATIBILITY _____________________________________________________ 60 IMPLEMENTATION ____________________________________________________ 63 TABLE OF MAPS _____________________________________________________ 63 APPENDIX A ________________________________________________________ 76 BRIDPORT TOWN PLAN 2017 TO 20242 t a b l e o f m a p s 1. AERIAL PHOTOGRAPHY 2012 2. POPULATION DENSITY 3. UTILITIES FACILITIES & EDUCATION 4. ROAD NAMES & TRANSPORTATION VOLUME 5. TRANSPORTATION SAFETY CONCERNS 6. AG RESOURCES 7. ELEVATION & LANDFORM 8. WATER RESOURCES 9. NATURAL RESOURCES 10. LAND USE REGIONS 11. RIVER CORRIDORS AND FLOODPLAINS 12. MAJOR WATERSHEDS BRIDPORT TOWN PLAN 2017 TO 2024 2 i n t r o d u c t i o n GENERAL DESCRIPTION across a range of topics including housing, the The Town of Bridport is located in west central economy, community facilities and the environment. Vermont along Lake Champlain. Bridport is in the Each topic has associated policies that will chart the southern portion of Champlain Valley and has an area town’s direction. of around 28,000 acres or roughly 44 square miles. It The plan ends with a conclusion that outlines steps the is bounded on the north by Addison, on the south by town should follow to implement the policies of this Shoreham, and on the east by Weybridge and plan over the next eight years, and reviews the plan’s Cornwall. Its village center is located off Vermont compatibility with the plans of its neighboring Route 22A near the intersection with Route 125. municipalities and the region. INTRODUCTION AND PLAN HISTORY The Bridport Town Plan is designed to serve as the primary reference when making community decisions and provide guidance to local officials when setting public policy. It establishes policies that will help shape the future of the town as Bridport faces potential change over the next eight years. Bridport’s Selectboard first adopted a Town Plan in 1971 under the authority of the Vermont Planning and Development Act, (“the Act”), Title 24 V.S.A., Chapter 117. The plan was implemented through the adoption of zoning and subdivision regulations. The Bridport plan has been revised several times since its creation, including in 1989, 1999, 2005 and 2010. In 2004, the town received a Municipal Planning Grant from the Vermont Department of Housing and Community Affairs to assist with revisions to its plan. In 2010 and 2014, no grant monies were used. ORGANIZATION OF THE PLAN The plan begins with a description of the evolution of the town, its people and landscape over the past 250 years. It characterizes the current state of the town BRIDPORT TOWN PLAN 2017 TO 2024 1 h i s t o r y The Town of Bridport was chartered on October 9, EARLY SETTLEMENT 1761 by the English governor Benning Wentworth, as Following the war, the settlers returned and one of many “New Hampshire Grants.” Bridport’s development of the town began in earnest. By 1791, boundaries remain to this day as originally deeded, a the year of the first federal Census, the town’s tract of land six miles long, from north to south, and population was recorded as 450. While Bridport was seven miles broad from east to west, bounded on the and remains a predominately agricultural community, west by the waters of Lake Champlain. The first in its early history the town had a variety of permanent colonial settlement began in 1768 when manufacturing, commercial and shipping enterprises Philip Stone arrived from Massachusetts to improve mainly located along Lake Champlain. Before the land he had purchased. significant road improvements and construction of the railroad, Lake Champlain was an essential corridor for The first 20 years of Bridport’s history were trade and travel. Lakeshore towns boomed in the early characterized by conflict. There were land disputes part of the 1800s. between the governors of New Hampshire and New York, both of whom were issuing grants to the same As the settlers cleared their lands, trees were burned land in what would become Vermont. There were and the ash was manufactured into potash, which was ongoing hostilities between the settlers and Native shipped on Lake Champlain and sold to markets in Americans. New York and Canada. Despite the available timber, there was little lumbering as the town lacked Finally, the Revolutionary War led to the waterpower for large mills. As the town’s farmers abandonment and destruction of what buildings and began to clear and cultivate fields in excess of what fields the town’s early settlers had managed to was needed for subsistence crops, they grew wheat for construct or clear. The British forces and their Native sale that was also shipped to market by boat. American allies plundered and burned settler’s properties throughout the war and in November of COMMERCIAL DEVELOPMENT 1778 a final raid destroyed nearly every remaining The period between 1810 and 1830 was a time of structure in Addison County. Only one home considerable commercial growth in Bridport. The constructed before the war in Bridport was standing by center of commercial activity was located at “the its end. Corners,” the present intersection of VT Route 22A, then a major north-south stage route, and Middle Road, where goods brought by canal boat to Bridport were distributed. Commercial buildings like Paris BRIDPORT TOWN PLAN 2017 TO 2024 2 Fletcher's general store sprang up at this intersection. cheese factory opened along Route 22A near the Other businesses that were in close proximity to the village that operated into the early 1900s. Following Corners between 1825 and 1830 were a tannery, three the closure of that plant, another was opened by a blacksmith's shops, a carriage and wagon shop, a group of farmers in West Bridport on Crown Point cabinet shop, a hatter and a tailor. Road, which operated into the 1930s. AGRICULTURE With development of the railroad, some of Bridport’s By the 1820s, Bridport’s land had been sufficiently raw milk was shipped by rail to cities in southern New cleared for grazing and sheep farming became the England. Milk continued to be shipped by rail until the town’s primary agricultural activity. About 1825 the mid-1900s. In the 1930s, a creamery and condensery first flock of over 600 Merino sheep was brought to began operation in Bridport near the intersection of Bridport. The breeding and raising of Merino sheep 125 and 22A. It continued under several ownerships quickly became the economic engine of agricultural through the 1950s. Milk from the plant was shipped to communities throughout Addison County. The area Boston where a premium price was paid for Grade A became well known for the high quality wool milk, making dairying more profitable than other produced from its Merino sheep. By 1840, there were livestock agriculture in Bridport. more than 27,000 sheep in Bridport or around 18 sheep for every resident. After World War II changes in regulations, the rising costs of farm machinery and the lack of farm labor led Agriculture in Bridport began changing just before the to the loss of a number of the town’s small, marginal Civil War as area residents began to migrate westward farms. As farms began to go out of business, the and market for wool, then the town’s primary remaining farmers bought land and buildings to agricultural product, declined. Several factors led to a expand their operations. This trend continues to the decline in the profitability of sheep farming in the mid- present day. to late-1800s. Addison County Merinos were exported to newly opened lands in the west and places around TRANSPORTATION the world including Australia. At the end of the 19th Bridport’s early history and development was partially century, technological changes such as new due to its role as transportation corridor. The Crown mechanical spinning machines made the fine Merino Point Military Road was cut through what would wool less marketable. become the Town of Bridport in 1759. In the decades after the Civil War, the town’s Numerous ferries operated along Bridport’s shoreline; agricultural economy shifted to dairy production. At three ferry licenses were granted in 1820 alone. The first milk was manufactured into butter and cheese, opening of the Champlain Bridge between Chimney products that could be stored and shipped more easily. Point in Addison and Crown Point, NY in 1929 Cheese began being manufactured in Bridport by local brought an end to most ferries crossing Lake farmers during the Civil War. Then in the 1880s, a BRIDPORT TOWN PLAN 2017 TO 2024 3 Champlain. The last ferry connecting Bridport to Crown Point, NY ceased operation in the 1930s. During October of 2009, the Crown Point/Champlain Bridge was closed and eventually destroyed. A temporary ferry landing was constructed and a new bridge was opened on November 7, 2011. As vehicle traffic seems to increase from year to year, Bridport has established a small “Park and Ride” area. Located in the village, it provides space for both the traveler and the visitor. Because of the small population and rural nature of the town, there has been limited demand for transportation projects in and around the village area for pedestrians and cyclist. We will continue to monitor this use of our highways and support the planning of any needed improvements when this type of traffic increases and before safety issues become a public concern.