|
Henry
|
 |
« : April 15, 2007, 06:28:39 AM » |
|
Hi All,
This morning's Burlington Free Press contains an article on Growth in Fairfax & Fletcher. Among the Fairfax residents it quotes are lifelong resident Donna Meunier, newcomers, Eric & MaryEllen Lapine and Jasen and Katherine Boyd. I was also quoted as saying that there were only 9 working farms in Fairfax when I moved here when I actually said there were 9 working dairy farms on the Fletcher Road between Fairfax Village and the Fletcher Town line when I moved here. Oh Well!!
Actual Working Dairy Farms in town now are: Ted Bessette, Roger Meunier (Leased), John Bouthillette, Jim Magnan, Lee/Walter Berthiaume (2 Farms), Maplewood Dairy - Webb, Ralph McNall Farm, Heyer Farm, Rene Boissoneault, Woodward Farm, Peter Rainville, Jeff/Ron Webb, Robert Wilkins and Paul Langelier for a total of 15 working Dairy Farms.
There is something kooky going on with The Burlington Free Press -- Yesterday the article was on the Web, but not in our paper so I had it linked -- Today it doesn't show up either place, so although they prefer to have us link to their web site, since it isn't there, here is a copy of what was on the Web yesterday:
Boom Towns: Fairfax and Fletcher face pros, cons of growth
By Lauren Ober
April 15, 2007
By Lauren Ober
FAIRFAX Charting the Chittenden County emigration of the past decade is easy. Simply draw a straight line north from Burlington, go through Milton, hang a right in Georgia, pass through Fairfax and land in Fletcher, a stones throw from the Lamoille County line.
Much to the chagrin of many lifers in Fairfax and Fletcher, the two fastest-growing towns in Franklin County, people tired of the relative congestion of Chittenden County, coupled with the pricey real estate market there are making the move north. The impact of this northward migration can alreadybe seen in the number of new houses sprouting up in Fairfax and residents of both towns are forced to adapt to a changing community.
According to the Massachusetts Institute for Social and Economic Research at the University of Massachusetts-Amherst, the 2005 population for Fairfax was 4,044. It is projected that by 2020, that population will grow to 5,695 an increase of 40 percent.
Fletcher, while much smaller than neighboring Fairfax, is also facing substantial growth for a town its size. According to the UMass aforementionedresearch, the 2005 population for Fletcher topped out at 1,294. It is projected that the town will grow by about 30 percent by 2020, when the population is estimated to reach 1,622.
Those numbers dont seem huge at first glance, but theyre some of the highest in the state. In the surrounding counties, only Elmore in Lamoille County, North Hero in Grand Isle County and Williston in Chittenden County have comparable projected growth numbers.
Greta Brunswick, land use planner with the Northwest Regional Planning Commission, said while the growth didnt occur overnight, steady streams of people continue to move to both of thosecommunities.
The number one reason people move to these towns is that they still have good access to Chittenden County. Theyre within commuting distance, but they still have a rural feel, Brunswick said.
Growth pressure
The growth spurt in Fairfax began in the late 1980s when many dairy farmers who figured correctly that selling their land would be more lucrative than selling milk began to subdivide, says Donna Meunier, longtime Fairfax town clerk. Fairfax has long been a bedroom community for Chittenden County, thanks in large part to IBM employees who wanted to be close to Essex, but didnt want to live in Chittenden County.
The growth began in the southern part of the rhombus-shaped town, with homes on Shepherdson Hollow and Sand Hill roads. It now encompasses the whole town, Meunier said. Much of the development is in the form of large housing units within the locally designated growth center.
All of this development can put a strain on town officials, who are facing more work than ever, Brunswick said. The Northwest Regional Planning Commission works with these local officials to provide support for planning issues.
Theyre doing the best they can, Brunswick said about small towns. Facing is facing a lot of growth pressure.
Over the years, Meunier has seen people come and go, drawn by the allure of country living and lower real estate costs, only to be driven out by the long commute and relative isolation. Those moving to Fairfax tended to be, and still are for the most part, older professionals whose children have left homethe house. New housesThe homes in Fairfax start at around $270,000, Meunier said, not exactly entry levelstarter home prices.
Now people are more mobile. They dont stay in one place anymore, said Meunier, who has lived in Fairfax all her life.
Eric and MaryEllen Lapine moved to Fairfax in November from a small town in New Hampshire. Eric Lapine got a job with Husky Injection Molding Systems in Milton, and the couple wanted to be close to his work. They didnt even look at houses in Chittenden County after hearing the median house prices as well as the property taxes. They looked briefly in St. Albans, but were drawn by BFA-Fairfax.
The kids wanted to stay at a relatively small school. The school seems nice, and the taxes seem lower, Eric Lapine said.
Jasen and Katherine Boyd moved to Vermont in December from London. The couple chose Fairfax because they wanted to have the real Vermont experience, Jasen Boyd said. The town hasnt let them down.
Its great. We had people coming to meet us when we moved in, Boyd said. At Steeple Market in town, you walk in and everyone at least knows your face.
While neighbors might still recognize one another in Fairfax, there is a
sense that people dont know each other as they used to. After the farm chores were finished, neighbors would visit with each other, and the sense of community was strong. Now, Meunier said, because people leave Fairfax in the morning for work and dont return until evening, people dont have the time to build that kind of community.
Now youre probably lucky if you know your neighbors, she said.
Over the horizon
Henry Raymond moved to Fairfax in 1953. At that time there were nine working dairy farms in the town. Now there are none.
What I actually said was that there were 9 working dairy farms on the Fletcher Road between Fairfax Village and the Fletcher Town line when I moved here. Now there are none.
Raymond, 73, built his house on Fletcher Road for $18,000 in 1968. The retired IBMer says he used to know everyone in town and that Fairfax truly felt like a community.
Now I go to the village and see people Ive never seen before and people I wont see again, Raymond said.
Still, Raymond says, he loves the town, growth and all. People wave when they drive by his house, even if they dont know him.
Thats just the way people are here, he said.
The growth in Fairfax hasnt had much impact on Bellows Free Academy-Fairfax, the towns pre-k through 12th-grade school. High school Principal Scott Lang called the population expansion minimally impacting because most of the new residents are older professionals without school-age children. He says the school might add a kindergarten teacher, but thats the extent of the potential changes that might need to be made.
In Fletcher, where the only school is the 125-
student elementary school, there has also been minimal student growth. In one year the school will be paid off, and Principal Jeffrey Teitelbaum says he hopes they will not need to expand.
But Teitelbaum admits that it would take just one large landowner in Fletcher to subdivide and the make-up of the community could change. Fletchers hilly topography and relative distance from Burlington have largely saved it from suburbanization. But the potential for growth is definitely on the minds of Fletcher residents.
Im thinking its just over the horizon, Teitelbaum said.
Looking back
In 2005, Fletcher issued 15 building permits for single family homes, Town Clerk Elaine Sweet said. In 2006, that number dropped to eight, but Sweet said there has been an increase in subdivisions, and that makes residents nervous.
Developers are finding us, Sweet said. Is that a good thing? Im a lifer here, and Id say no.
Looking at the development in neighboring Fairfax has Fletcher residents on edge Teitelbaum said.
A lot of people look at Fairfax and are aghast, he said. Sweet remembers a time growing up when she and her brother would slide down the road to their one-room schoolhouse on their runner sleds during the winters. Now the roads are regularly maintained and theyre too busy for sleds.
Like Fairfax, Fletcher has seen the traffic in town increase, causing the town to invest more in road maintenance. DonnaMeunier, the Fairfax town clerk said theyve been trying to expand the paving a little each year.
As for other services, Meunier said the town is also looking to expand. The village is at maximum capacity for water and sewer and has one private well to serve the other residences outside the village.
Although people are moving to Fairfax and Fletcher for the exceptional views of Mount Mansfield and the Adirondacks, as well as the cheaper real estate and the rural life, the arrival of outsiders has some in those towns on edge. A woman at the Fletcher Town Clerks Office said, Tell people not to move here, as Sweet described what attracts people to the area.
These former dairy-communities-turned, now-bedroom communities arent hostile to outsiders, but residents realize that some sense of loss comes with growth.
Its just not like it used to be, obviously, Sweet said. Youre going to have growth. Im not saying its a negative, but its not necessarily positive, either.
Contact Lauren Ober at 660-1868 or lober@bfp.burlingtonfreepress.com
|
