Street beat
Local talent
Pierson hosts author who chronicles mural art
Teams form for Dancing with the Burlington Stars
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Volume 53 Number 37
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shelburnenews.com
September 12, 2024
Selectboard will rule on O’Brien Project fate
Cheeky chippy
LIBERTY DARR STAFF WRITER
PHOTO BY TOM WADSWORTH
A Deer Run Drive chipmunk stocks up for the long Shelburne winter.
The future of a 175-acre parcel of land owned by the O’Brien Brothers development company rests, in part, in the hands of the Shelburne Selectboard after it held its final community forum on the project. The board was expected to make some sort of decision about the developer’s petition at Tuesday night’s selectboard meeting, after The Shelburne News went to press. Like the one before it, last week’s forum drew hundreds of community members to town hall to air their grievances — and support — of the proposed project. O’Brien Brothers has for decades owned the property that sits immediately outside the town’s water and sewer service area. The developers came to the selectboard four months ago with a petition to include part of the property in the town’s designated utility service area to allow it to build more houses.
That designation could give the land, which is currently included in the town’s rural zoning district, a higher density as outlined in the recently passed Act 47, or HOME Act. Although the town’s planning commission is currently looking at massive regulatory reform, the current rural zoning district only allows for one unit per 5 acres. But under the new state law meant to spur housing development across the state, areas serviced by water and sewer can be built at a much higher density than five dwellings per acre. The parcel is separated by Thomas Road into two tracts — a 110-acre tract on the north side of the road and another 65.5 acres to the south. The northern parcel sits at the edge of the current area serviced by water and sewer infrastructure, located on the south side of Irish Hill Road, between Spear Street and Thomas Road. The company argues that, although the northern portion of See O’BRIEN PROJECT on page 12
Town hires first-ever paid chief of Shelburne Rescue PATRICK BILOW STAFF WRITER
The Town of Shelburne hired its first-ever paid rescue chief to run Shelburne Rescue after more
than 40 years of it being a volunteer-led department. The rescue chief role is not a new one, but Andrew Kehl is the first person who will be compensated for the work. He began in
the role on Aug. 23 and is working to expand the department as Shelburne grows and ages and 911 calls throughout the community increase. Originally from New York
City, Kehl moved to Vermont to attend the University of Vermont and was a volunteer with Shelburne Rescue from 2006-2017. He then took a break from the squad to pursue an opportunity with the
Vermont National Guard, where he worked as a registered nurse. Kehl was stationed in Turkey See KEHL on page 12
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