Williston
ECRWSS PRSRT STD US Postage
PAID
Permit #15 Williston,VT 05495 POSTAL CUSTOMER
SEPTEMBER 29, 2022
WILLISTON’S NEWSPAPER SINCE 1985
WWW.WILLISTONOBSERVER.COM
Snyder project modified, still not approved
Townhomes in the proposed Annex neighborhood have been redesigned to include front-facing porches and pitched roofs. COURTESY OF THE WILLISTON PLANNING AND ZONING DEPARTMENT
BY JASON STARR Observer staff Snyder Homes presented revised plans Tuesday for the first phase of a 341-home neighborhood called the Annex on the former Essex Alliance Church property off Route 2A. But the Development Review Board was not ready to offer approval, instead tabling the discussion until its Oct. 11 meeting. The proposal has been tabled once before, in July. Conceptual plans were first submitted in the fall of 2021. Board chair Peter Kelley said the twoweek extension would allow the Williston Department of Public
Works and Fire Department to review the modifications. “This is a big proposal,” Kelley said. “They need to weigh in.” The new plans add a traffic light and left-turn lane to the neighborhood’s primary en-
the neighborhood. “It is a fun and unique park,” said Chris Snyder of Snyder Homes. “I’m pretty excited about what it looks like and how it will be used by the public and those living in the neighborhood.”
“We have improved the project and I’m very excited about where we landed.” Chris Snyder Snyder Homes
trance off Route 2A. They also indicate a public park with art installations at the entrance to
The park was designed by Michael Buscher of Burlington landscape architectural firm
DINE-IN & TAKE OUT
VIA ONLINE ORDERING
T.J. Boyle Associates. The art will be visible from Route 2A, he said. “We will engage with local artists to create a sculpture,” said Buscher. “We have some great stone mason artists in Vermont that are nationally known.” The park will also have natural play elements such as boulders, stumps, balance beams and vertical elements as well as picnic tables and a shelter. It will be owned by the Annex homeowners association but open to the public, Snyder said. A neighborhood park with an outdoor pool, a poolhouse, garden and picnic tables will be for see ANNEX page 15
Car dealer to take prime spot One of the most visible locations in Williston will be revitalized from a vacant lot with a neglected one-story building to a car dealership with an outdoor showcase lot and new building. MD Motors is currently located in an off-the-beaten-path spot — on Dorset Lane off Route 2A behind the Eco Car Wash. It’s a dead-end road on the far northern fringe of Williston near the Winooski River. The new location is quite the opposite, on one of the more trafficked intersections in Chittenden County, the crossroads of Industrial Avenue and Route 2. The Development Review Board on Tuesday approved the car dealership’s plans for the lot. “Anything is going to be an improvement,” DRB member Scott Rieley said of the 4-acre lot that has long been an eyesore near the town border with South Burlington. MD Motors sells used cars in a wide variety of brands. It plans a 6,000-square-foot outdoor sales lot fronting Route 2 alongside a 5,000-square-foot headquarters on the site. The company was formed 12 years ago and purchased the lot last year, co-owner Anastasia Gaina said.
Blair Park hotel takes shape A hotel that has been under construction for about two years on Blair Park Road received Development Review see DEVELOPMENT page 15
Shelburne Road, S. Burlington Maple Tree Place, Williston
GetBlissBee.com #getblissbee