Growth in Hinesburg: One of a series updating the major developments planned for Hinesburg.
Mechanicsville Road is set, once again, for major development.
On the east side just south of the Town Cemetery, the first phase of what could be 54 new dwellings is under way. On the west side, beyond the Town Cemetery an affordable housing project is near approval.
Joe Laster, the Atlanta, Georgia, developer of Flying Tractor HOA, said he has sold seven of the eight lots of Phase I on the lower portion of a newly built paved road called Tractor Road. According to sales records, each of the 1/3-acre lots have been purchased for $211,000 to $231,000.
The property has 102 acres which eventually will have 54 residences when and if the next phases are approved, he said.
“Each lot purchaser will build their own home,” Laster said.
“There is one lot still available. The first homeowners are starting to build their houses now.”
Tractor Road is paved, has a sidewalk and each lot is serviced by Town water and sewer, power, cable and phone/internet. Laster said he is in the process of subdividing the second half of phase one, called Phase 1B. This phase includes 17 units across 12 lots which will be accessed off an extension of Tractor Road.
“Depending on how long subdivision and permitting take, the road and utilities for phase 1B will start in 2025 or 2026,” Laster said. He anticipates starting the next two phases “in a few years.”
Laster purchased this undeveloped property from the Quinn family, where there was once a Town well and ski tow, both of which had been abandoned. The property sits in both the Residential 1 and Rural Residential 1 zoning districts. Later phases of Laster’s development will include a small public park and two larger parks on the back forested half of the property.
One of the lots might be developed in partnership with Green Mountain Habitat for Humanities, he said. Ten percent of the development will be dedicated to affordable housing.
New Habitat Project in Hinesburg’s New Residential 3 Zoning District
Green Mountain Habitat for Humanity’s Real Estate and Development Construction Manager Robin Pierce has requested sketch plan approval from the DRB for a six-unit subdivision on 0.92 acres at 827 Mechanicsville Road. It’s in Hinesburg’s new Residential 3 Zoning District.
Changes to State law that governs municipal zoning and land use regulations prompted the Town to create the new zoning district. This is in response to Vermont’s housing supply and affordability problems. Most of these changes were geared to make it easier to create new housing. The area affected is principally the Village Growth Area, but some changes will have a townwide effect.
Hinesburg Development Review Board Coordinator Mitchel Cypes said there are three current potential Habitat projects in Hinesburg. One in Windy Ridge, another at 827 Mechanicsville Road, and the third being the Laster property. In total these three sites could have 16 affordable units. These are the first Habitat projects in Hinesburg in over a decade.
The Mechanicsville Road property is in the municipal water and sewer district, but outside of the Village Growth Area. Proposed units are to be located in two triplexes. Two principal structures will replace the current 1,820 square foot, three-bedroom single family dwelling, built in 1900, which will be torn down. A total of 17 parking spaces are planned; eleven parking spaces in a parking lot on the north side of the property, and an additional six parking spaces in a separate one-way drive adjacent to Mechanicsville Road, the Town website indicated.
Still needed are preliminary plat, final plat subdivision approval and site plan reviews for multifamily units.
Cypes said he can’t predict when construction will begin. “I will do my best to make the permitting process as efficient as possible.”
Larger and more complete version of map shown below can be found at bit.ly/mechmap.