FAIRFAX RESIDENTS AND THEIR UTG PROPERTY

[Henry]

Hi All,

Did you ever hear of Unorganized Towns and Gores?

One of our Fairfax Residents has and owns some property there.

Spiraling taxes, development, zoning disputes -- all occasional intruders on Vermont's good life -- are making their first inroads on Averill, Averys Gore, Ferdinand, Lewis, Warners Grant and Warren Gore.

The six towns and gores, known as the Unorganized Towns and Gores of Essex County, or UTG, were the last vestiges of a version of 19th-century Vermont, one that was light on rules and outside influence.

Unorganized towns and gores are creatures different from most communities in Vermont. Gores and grants are essentially surveying mistakes -- leftover scraps of land -- made two centuries ago as people established town boundaries.

John and Terrie Young of Fairfax are among the vacation homeowners in the UTG. Like many others, the two are rebuilding and improving their camp. The building and its septic system will be farther back from the lakeshore.

Complying with stormwater laws, the couple have erected plastic barricades and placed rows of hay bales at the construction site to prevent sediment pollution. Most other landowners are being careful, too, the Youngs said, although John Young said he couldn't guarantee all of them are.

The Youngs used to lease the property from Champion paper. "Champion was an absolute monarchy. They ruled with an iron fist. I liked it," John Young said.

Deed restrictions imposed by the paper companies included rules on which trees could be cut, the design of septic systems and what alterations to the camps were permitted.

Champion left in the late 1990s, and like many leaseholders, the Youngs bought their lot. They found the UTG residents who volunteered to manage the zoning friendly, responsive and unsure of some of the regulations.

"We're trying to obey the laws, but nobody will tell us what they are," John Young said.

Eventually, the zoning rules were sorted out for the Youngs, and building proceeded. Terrie Young said the remote lake still offers the kind of lifestyle the couple is looking for.

"We've got 10 grandkids. They love coming up here. We're trying to give them a way of life that we enjoyed," she said.

If you would like to read the whole Burlington Free Press Article, go to:

http://www.burlingtonfreepress.com/bfpnews/news/1000h.htm

Have a great day,
Henry