Peacham Village New Application

Complete application. All requirements met. . Cover letter dated 03/11/2020 . Authorization from selectboard on 10/02/2019 . Town planning process confirmed on 09/26/2019 by NVDA . NVDA notified on 03/11/2020 . Color photographs included . Town submitted zoning map and bylaws . Town submitted historic district map . Proposed boundary map included, and it was developed in coordination with DHCD staff

Staff Recommendation Approve application and award designation

Downtown Board Meeting 22 June 2020 Peacham Village

Downtown Board Meeting 22 June 2020 Peacham Village Revitalization Efforts . Previously held village center designation from 2004-2012 . Updated Town Plan in 2019 to focus on village revitalization . Expanded public library in 2001 . Host annual Winter Carnival, Fourth of July celebration, Acoustic Musical Festival, NEK Fall Foliage festival, Fall Fondo annual bike ride, and summer farmers market . Operates a seasonal gift shop in the village by the Peacham Corner Guild . Opened the Lorna Field Quimby Archives and Research Center operated by the Peacham Historical Society . Operates the Peacham Housing Authority to provide affordable senior housing in the former Peacham Academy campus buildings . The Peacham Community Housing nonprofit collaborated with the Peacham Café LLC, to operate a successful community-supported enterprise (CSE) café. The café received tremendous community support, state grants and generous support from the Preservation Trust of Vermont . Developed the Peacham Children’s Center nonprofit, to develop a community childcare center in the Congregational Church social hall (in progress) . Updated the Community Water System led by the Peacham Fire District #1 and funded by a USDA grant/loan and local bond

Downtown Board Meeting 22 June 2020 Peacham Village Photographs

Downtown Board Meeting 22 June 2020 Peacham Village Zoning Map and Bylaws

The proposed designated boundary is in the Village Zoning District.

Downtown Board Meeting 22 June 2020 Peacham Village Historic District

The proposed designated boundary is listed in the National Register of Historic Places.

Downtown Board Meeting 22 June 2020 Peacham Village Prior Boundary Map 1/2004 – 1/2012

Downtown Board Meeting 22 June 2020 Peacham Village Proposed Boundary Map

The proposed boundary runs along Bayley Hazen Road and Church Street and includes the fire station, historical society, town clerk’s office and gym, public library, Academy Science Building, Peacham Café, Craft Guild, Peacham Store, Peacham Congregational Church, small businesses, multifamily and single-family residences.

The town worked with staff to define the boundary that meets statutory definition and submitted a map that meets the program’s requirements.

Downtown Board Meeting 22 June 2020 Peacham Village Discussion/Questions and Motion

Staff Recommendation Approve application and award designation

Downtown Board Meeting 22 June 2020 March 11, 2020

Richard Amore Vermont Village Center Designation Program Division for Community Planning and Revitalization Department of Housing and Community Development One National Life Drive, 6th Floor Montpelier, VT 05620

Dear Richard,

The Town of Peacham is pleased to submit its application for Village Center Designation. Enclosed you will find the following information:

• Letter notifying Northeastern Vermont Development Association (NVDA) of our intent to apply for village center designation; • Minutes from the October 2, 2019 select board meeting, approving the decision to apply for village center designation; • Letter from NVDA confirming the Town’s planning process; • A description of the community and proposed village center area. This element is accompanied by photographs, as well as a description of recent improvements to the village, challenges, and opportunities. Relevant language from the Peacham Town Plan (adopted July 17, 2019) is also included. • Map of proposed area • Relevant pages from the Peacham Zoning Bylaws, which are under review this year. • Zoning Map of Peacham

Please do not hesitate to contact me with any questions. My email is: [email protected] and my phone number is 802-503-1258.

Thank you very much for your consideration of our application.

Jock Gill Chair, Peacham Planning Commission P.O. Box 3 Peacham, VT 05862

Peacham, VT 05862 March 11, 2020

Northeastern Vermont Development Association P.O. Box 630 St. Johnsbury, VT 05819 Attn: Alison Low

We are writing on behalf of the Peacham Selectboard and the Peacham Planning Commission to inform you of the Town’s intent to apply to the Vermont Village Center Designation Program for Village Center Designation.

Best regards,

Tom/Rebecca Jock Gill TC/Assistant TC Planning Commission Chair

March 23, 2020

Jock Gill, Planning Commission Chair Rebecca Washington, Assistant Town Clerk Town of Peacham 79 Church Street Peacham, VT 05862

Dear Jock and Rebecca,

We have received your letter notifying us of your intent to apply for Village Center Designation.

This letter is to inform you that Peacham’s planning process was confirmed in a NVDA public hearing held on September 26, 2019. Vermont statute requires us to review and confirm the planning efforts of the municipalities in the Northeast Kingdom at least twice every eight years. This process allows our communities to apply for state Municipal Planning Grants and access other benefits, including Village Center designation. This letter of confirmation must be included in your town’s application for Village Center designation.

To be confirmed, the regional planning commission has to consult with the municipality to determine if it meets these requirements, as determined by 24 V.S.A. §4350:

• It is engaged in a continuous planning process that, within a reasonable time, will result in a plan that is consistent with statewide planning goals; • It is engaged in a process to implement its municipal plan; and • It is maintaining its efforts to provide local funds for municipal and regional planning purposes.

Part of the consultation process involves determining whether the municipality has adopted a plan that can be regionally approved. Your plan, adopted on July 17, 2019, was approved by the full board of NVDA on September, 26, 2019, which was NVDA’s annual board meeting. In a separately warned hearing for that same evening, the full board then voted to confirm the planning efforts of Peacham.

We are very pleased that your community is pursuing Village Center Designation. Don’t hesitate to contact me if you have any questions about the designation process.

Sincerely,

Alison Low AICP, CFM Senior Planner

cc. David Snedeker

P.O. Box 630 36 Eastern Avenue, Suite 1 St. Johnsbury, Vermont 05819-0630 802 747-5181 Fax: 802 748-1223 The regional planning and development commission serving the Northeast Kingdom: Caledonia, Essex and Orleans Counties • The community has had a library since 1810, but the current facility dates to 1960, which replaced the previous structure lost by fire. A major Peacham Village expansion to the Peacham Public Library (#20 on the map) was completed in 2001. • Peacham’s annual Winter Carnival offers indoor and outdoor activities in Community and Context the Village in mid-February. • The Village hosts an annual Fourth of July Celebration, which is a time- The settlement pattern and architectural character of the village were well honored tradition. The festivities include a tractor parade down Church defined by 1860 and have survived substantially unaltered to this day. Two Street, a “ghost walk” produced by the Peacham Historical Association, a important layers within this early development give the village its physical reading of the Declaration of Independence, as well as a Frederick Douglass distinction - the Federal style houses, barns, and churches of the late 1700's and speech, games, music, and a barbecue. early 1800s and the predominantly Greek Revival homes and institutional • In mid-August, the Village is host to the annual Peacham Acoustic Musical buildings of the 1840s, 50s and 60s. A few large homes were built on the edges Festival, which features national and local talent ranging from Celtic of the village during the late 19th century, and a few summer homes were built traditions to old-time fiddle tunes, blues, and bluegrass. at higher elevations in the early part of the 20th century. In recent years, a few • Peacham has long participated in the Northeast Kingdom Fall Foliage additional new homes have been built around the edges and in some of the Festival in early October, offering arts and crafts, a book sale, and a tour of vacant land created by the loss of the central Peacham Academy building. (The the Snow Roller Museum, just behind the war memorial (#2 on the map). Academy closed in 1971, and the central building was lost to fire in 1976.) • The annual Peacham Fall Fondo originates from the Town Offices (#12) and Nevertheless, the pre-1860 buildings are still predominant and provide the takes cyclists on an 80 km ride through the Northeast Kingdom. essential character and continuity within the village. Nearly all the properties in • The Peacham Corner Guild operates a seasonal gift shop (#23 on map), the district retain their integrity with regard to location, setting, design, selling unique handcrafts, small antiques, and specialty foods. materials, workmanship, feeling and association. • The Peacham Historical Association (#6 and #7 on map) was founded in Peacham Village, also known as Peacham Corner, was added to the National 1916. The Lorna Field Quimby Archives and Research Center opened in Register of Historic Places in 2003. 2015 and is open June through September. The Historical Association also owns the Ashbel Goodenough Blacksmith Shop (#11 on the map), which is Almost from the beginning, various trades and industries - as many as 30-35 at open on the 4th of July and during the Fall Foliage Festival. a given time-flourished in Peacham. Today, carpenters, small contractors, and • Peacham's Farmers Market (Thursday from 3 to 6 PM) was launched in builders continue a long tradition, while local crafters, artisans, and artists 2010. Peacham Community Housing provides the land (#14 on the map) for prepare their wares for the global market. Tourism became important to this community enhancement. Peacham during the 1900's as people opened their homes to visitors from • In 2005, Peacham was designated “Best New England Village” by Yankee away. With the advent of the railroad in Barnet and then motor vehicles, Magazine. Peacham became a popular location for summer residents, some of whom were educators from Boston and New York. Their interest and stimulation have helped to enhance the many cultural interests of the town. Festival. In addition to restoring the tennis court to its original use, Challenges and Opportunities residents have identified the following potential reuses: a covered multiuse • Peacham Community Housing (PCH) is non-profit, charitable organization space, outdoor dance floor, ice skating rink, picnic area, and an event dedicated to senior housing and services. PCH was a community partner space. with Housing Vermont for converting two buildings that had been part of • A working group wants to establish a non-profit Peacham Children’s Center. the Peacham Academy campus after the Academy closed: the Kenerson The Center hopes to offer affordable, certified, high-quality day care for up Building (#9 on the map), which is now known as the Academy Apartments to 40 children from six weeks old and up and employ six to eight people. and the Science Building (#10 on the map), which is now vacant. In 2017, This is a significant endeavor for a small town. The goal is to keep the the partnership with Housing Vermont ended, and the PCH became the Peacham Children’s Center in the village. The Child Care Center has signed a sole owner of the two buildings. Memorandum of Understanding with the Congregational Church (#26 on • PCH engages with a company to manage the Academy Apartments, which map), moving toward a plan where the Center would fund necessary and houses eight residents in six apartments. The facility has had a new roof substantial upgrades in the Church social hall ground floor area, and use and a new boiler for heat and water in the past two years. In the near that space during working hours. future, the PCH would like to build a safe, ADA-compliant walkway from the • Peacham Fire District #1 supplies water to all the homes, apartments, and apartments to the Town Offices (#12 on the map). public buildings in the Village. The system has had upgrades in 2000, 2011, • In 2010 Housing Vermont decided that the capital needs of the Science and 2013. A bond vote passed in 2018 to replace the original pipeline in the Building were too expensive, so they closed it. The PCH is looking for village. Work commenced in the summer of 2019, and the last 500 feet of options to reuse the Science Building, but they have a very modest budget pipe will be replaced in the spring. with limited resources. • The Peacham Store (#24) has out-of-town owners and is almost always • PCH also supports community projects that contribute to Peacham's quality closed. of living. They acquired the formed town clerk’s office (#23 on the map), which houses the Peacham Guild, as well as the former bus barn (#22). In 2011 the PCH collaborated with the newly formed group Peacham Café LLC. Land use considerations With the generous support of local and statewide benefactors, the All the proposed Village Designation area is in the Village Zoning district, which Peacham Café raised $120,000 and opened in 2014. In 2018, the Cafe has a minimum lot size of .5 acre and allows for a mix of residential, civic, and received an award from the Preservation Trust of Vermont. commercial uses. The relevant pages from the Zoning Bylaw (last amended • The PCH aims to make improvements to the Guild’s space, as well as the February 28, 2017) are attached to this application. upper story of the building, which is currently vacant. • Maintenance and capital improvements for the buildings owned by the PCH exceeds their annual revenues. Fundraising is ongoing. They receive an Consistency with Town Plan annual appropriation from the town. The Peacham Plan (adopted July 17, 2019) highlights the importance of • There is a small, poorly maintained tennis court next to the former reestablishing Village Center Designation in support of its goals: Peacham Academy gymnasium, now the town municipal building (#12). Goal, page 19: “Ensure a variety of housing units for all income levels and age While the tennis court is in disrepair, it still is an important location for groups within the town, emphasizing the rehabilitation of existing structures in annual events like the town picnic and the Peacham Acoustic Music favor of building new ones.” Strategy: “Pursue Village Center Designation for Peacham Corner (Peacham Village).”

From the discussion of childcare, page 14 (People and Social Capital): “The goal is to keep the Peacham Children’s Center in the village. Re-establishing village center designation opens up grant opportunities and tax incentives that could support this project.” Goal, page 20: “Improve the availability of affordable childcare.” Strategies: “Support efforts to establish the Children’s Center in the Village. Pursue Village Center re-designation for Peacham Corner (Peacham Village).”

Goal, page 29: “Maintain the historical character of the village centers.” Strategy: “Re-establish Village Center Designation for Peacham Corner (Peacham Village).”

Goal, page 38: “Develop Peacham as a ‘destination’ attraction.” Strategy: “Re- establish Village Center Designation for Peacham Corner (Peacham Village). This will enable income-producing properties (such as the Cafe) to access tax credits for much-need fit-up and code improvements.”

Peacham Village Views

From Bayley Hazen Road, looking south to Church Street. Peacham Store (#24) is Also looking north on Bayley Hazen. in the right. Town Clerk’s Office and Gym (#12) (former Peacham Academy Gym) is up on the left.

Looking north on Bayley Hazen Road. Peacham Public Library (#20) in on right. Looking east onto old Cemetery Road, from the library (#20).

Looking down Church Street, from the Town offices (#12)

Looking south on Bayley Hazen. The historic marker notes the former site of Caledonia County Grammar School. The lot has been used for the Peacham Farmers’ Market since 2010. Looking up Church Street from the Town Offices (#12)

Fire station (#1) Peacham Snowroller Barn and Museum (#2). This is the only known barn in Vermont purposely built to store town snow rollers.

Peacham Cemetery (#3)

Park and monument (#2)

Berwick Insurance Agency (#5) Peacham Historical Society Research Barn (#7)

Academy Apartments (#9) Peacham Historical Association (6)

Town offices, post office, and gymnasium (#12) Academy Science Building, now vacant (#10)

Farmers’ Market (#14) Blacksmith Shop (#11)

Peacham Public Library (#20) Peacham Craft Guild (#23)

Peacham Café (#22) Peacham Store (#24)

Peacham Congregational Church (#26#) Town of Peacham BAYLEY HAZEN RD Village Center Designation Map )"20 02/10/2020 µ )"19 )"18 )"17 OLD CEMETERY RD )"16 22 )"21 )" )"23 BAYLEY HAZEN RD

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CHURCH ST 7 Historical Society Research Building )"8 9 Multi-unit )"28 )"9 10 Academy Science Building 11 Blacksmith Shop 12 Town Clerk's Office and Gym 14 Lot Used For Peacham Farmers Market 20 Peacham Public Library 22 Peacham Cafe )"29 23 Peacham Craft Guild )"6 24 Peacham Store )"7 26 Peacham Congregational Church 27 Farm

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Building UseTypes )" Civic 0 0.1 Miles )" Commercial )" Educational )" Multi-unit Warning- This Data is for planning purposes only and does not )" Single-family residence replace a survey and/or engineering study. Because this map Peacham Corner Historic District is developed from various scale sources, there may be some VTPARCELS_PEACHAM_2017 discrepancies between data layers. Designated Village Center VCGI Section 303: Village District (VD) The Village District contains the areas of Peacham Corner/Peacham Village, South Peacham and East Peacham. The boundaries are defined on the zoning map.

Allowed Uses

Home Occupation [see Section 404] Agriculture [see Section 405]

Permitted Uses Accessory dwelling unit [see Dwelling, one family Section 418] Dwelling, two family Accessory use or structure Home Business Bed & Breakfast or Inn Nursing home Boarding House Personal services [requires site Cemetery plan review] Church Pond Clinic Professional Office [requires Dwelling, multi-family site plan review] Recreation, outdoor

Conditional Use- DRB Review Required Accessory dwelling unit [see Municipal Use Section 418] Retail store Auto service station Solid Waste Facility Community Center Planned unit development [see Section 901] Essential services School, private and public Farmstand Subdivision

Minimum Lot Area and Dimensional Requirements Minimum Lot: 1/2 acre Minimum area per primary dwelling unit: 1/2 acre Minimum width on frontage: 100 feet Minimum Front Setback: 45 feet

Page | 10

Minimum Side Setback: 25 feet Minimum Rear Setback: 25 feet Front setbacks are measured from the centerline of the existing road right-of-way.

Page | 11

Town of Peacham, VT Zoning District Map µ 12/03/2018

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× Morse Mountain × ×× # × × × × × × × × × × × × × × ×× × ××× × × × ×× × ×× × × × × ×× ×× × × ×× × CAMP RD × × × × ×× × × × × × ×× × ×× × ××××××××××× ×SPUR RD × ××× × × ×××××× × × × ×××× × î GREEN BAY LP × × × î×× × × Mud Pond × × × × × Peacham Pond ×× × ONION PT ×× × ××× - ×× × × ××× × × ×× × FIELD RD × × × × × Devils Hill × × ××× ×× ××××××× # × × × × × × × × × ×

e GREAT RD d × SFH B ro × o × k Jennison Mountain # × × × × × × × × Blake Hill # × R e d Deer Mountain B ro # o k

ROUTE 232 Osmore Pond

l Multi-Family Dwelling Streams × Single Family Home Lakes, Ponds & Rivers

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Warning- This Data is for planning purposes only and does not replace a survey and/or engineering study. Because this map 0 1 2 Miles is developed from various scale sources, there may be some discrepancies between data layers.