The Spear family has owned the property on the corner of Church Hill Rd and Rte. 7 for over 50 years. Around 10 years ago, the Spears were looking to sell the property and had some interested parties. To their surprise, they learned that changes had been made to the Land Use Regulations including the removal of retail sales. To this date, these changes remain a mystery as to how they were made.
The sad reality is that this property was to be the Spears retirement, but instead they’ve had to pay the town of Charlotte over $100,000 in property taxes over the last 10 years.
So, here we are 10 years later, the property has aged and the Spears are still looking for a buyer, but the mysterious changes made years ago still make this a challenge. Now the Spears have an interested party in Skip Valllee. Skip and his team presented their project to the town last September at the sketch review. Did everyone agree with the proposal? No…but Skip and his team listened and shared their willingness to work with the town to make this project a reality. They listened, gave feedback and took notes. If you have seen their revised plan, and you attended the meeting in September…then you know they listened as they have incorporated changes to address a lot of the concerns that were brought up during that meeting.
I think people will agree that they would like to see something done with this corner. In order for that to happen with the current regulations…there’s going have to be compromises. Is everyone going to agree with every proposal that comes along…no. Does everyone have an opinion of what they’d like to see on the corner…yes. It’s been over 10 years and Skip is the first one to bring a proposal that will bring life back to this corner and offered to work with the town to make it work. Otherwise, we’ll be having this same conversation 10 years from now and wondering why it’s still a vacant lot.
So, please come to the Zoning meeting this Wednesday night (24th) at 7:00p and help support the Spears and together let’s bring the ‘Gateway to Charlotte’ back to life!
Oct 2, 2024, 3 to 4 PM
"Spirits to Enforce" - Theater at UVM: Oct. 2-6Oct 2, 7:30 PM to 2 PM, Oct 6, 2024
Vermont Crafts Council Open Studio WeekendOct 5, 10 AM to 4 PM, Oct 6, 2024