PLAINFIELD – Residents voted Tuesday against a $600,000 bond to purchase land for new housing development, 15 months after a flood devastated the town’s village core.
The bond would have allowed the town selectboard to borrow the funds to buy 24 acres of land located uphill of the village. The town clerk’s office said the vote was 238-298 against the measure.
The town applied for a $9.7 million Community Development Block Grant to develop infrastructure on the now-undeveloped land at 68 East Hill Road and 266 Main St., according to the town website. The select board planned to sell roughly 40 parcels of land for housing development after building infrastructure like roads and utility hookups.
Plainfield experienced some flooding in July 2023, but the July 2024 flood was even more damaging for the town of 1,200 residents. Half of an apartment building as swept away by flood waters in 2024. Between the two years, 39 households have applied for federal buyouts, according to a town grant presentation.
In the wake of the floods, local volunteers formed the East Village Expansion Committee to explore developing land outside of the flood zone. Proponents of the plan said in 2024 that they believe it could help bolster the town’s tax base and relieve the local housing shortage.
Meanwhile, critics of the idea have objected to the project’s cost or the potential for increased local traffic. They’ve also raised concerns about a possible conflict of interest, since town clerk Bram Towbin co-owns some of the land. The Vermont State Ethics Commission advised the town that the situation appeared to be in line with ethical standards.
The $600,000 bond would have been used only once funding for the rest of the project was fully lined up, according to the expansion committee’s website.
