CVU farmstand
Dave Keller Band
Students start selling school produce this July
Shelburne Farm concerts continue through July
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Volume 53 Number 29
O’Brien proposal stirs up backlash
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shelburnenews.com
July 18, 2024
Finding calm
LIBERTY DARR STAFF WRITER
A recent proposal by the O’Brien Brothers development company has caused a familiar uproar in Shelburne in recent months, with many neighbors voicing concern over what the potential development could do to the town’s wastewater and sewer capacity, school capacity and overall look of the town. The selectboard has been negotiating with the development company for the last month to draft an agreement to insulate the town from certain aspects of such large-scale development. The agreement, which is not yet signed, is set to be unveiled at a selectboard meeting later this month, selectboard chair Mike Ashooh said. “I think we are basically done with our discussions with the O’Briens and have reached a point where it looks like we’ve got what we need to make a decision,” he said, noting that the board plans to continue public engagement efforts with a potential questionSee O’BRIEN PROPOSAL on page 12
PHOTO BY LEE KROHN
Volunteers with the Falls Road Working Group set up a traffic calming demonstration on Falls Road last week to make the road safer, slow traffic and be more bike and pedestrian friendly. The project, which will be in place until September, features new and improved crosswalks, walking lanes, street art, speed cushions, slow street signs, bike parking and more.
Farming nonprofit looks to expand agriculture models LIBERTY DARR STAFF WRITER
What does the future of farming in Vermont look like? For a group of four prominent farmers in South Burlington and Shelburne — Bread and Butter Farm, Killeen Crossroads Farm, Blank Page Café and Chrysalis Landworks — a future might only be possible by working together. Through a new nonprofit known as The Agrihood Collec-
tive, these farmers are exploring solutions to the ever-growing challenges of working in agriculture and are collaborating on an innovative land-ownership model in partnership with the Vermont Land Trust. And now, plans are coming to fruition as the group moves through fundraising to purchase nearly 360 acres of land in South Burlington to support its agricultural dreams to build a comprehensive shared-farm infrastructure.
There is no surprise that the nature of farming is shifting. In addition to the daily, labor-intensive work — most work from sunup to sundown — farmers must also adapt to a changing climate and unpredictable weather events, increasing infrastructure costs and a housing crisis that leaves many workers earning low wages without a place to live. “We understand that there are absolutely critical issues that we are currently facing in our farm-
ing community,” Brie Gelinas, co-director of the new nonprofit, said. “We’re talking about the foundation of what Vermont is. Vermont is not Vermont without farms, and even though there’s a lot of land and there’s a lot of abundance, what’s happening is that land is becoming increasingly unaffordable to a farmer. There’s also a challenge with affordable See FARMING on page 11
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