Shelburne Selectboard Approves Housing Project Agreement

The Shelburne Selectboard on Tuesday unanimously approved a predevelopment agreement with O’Brien Brothers, a construction company that is seeking to build 375 homes on a 200-acre parcel it owns in town.

The vote capped a contentious eight-month process that included several public hearings. It means the housing project, the largest planned in Shelburne’s history, will now face the scrutiny of the town’s Development Review Board and state Act 250 environmental review.

Proponents have argued for months that the project would bring much-needed new homes to Shelburne, including about 45 units of affordable housing. Opponents had said it would damage the town’s rural character and create too much traffic in a now-peaceful residential area.

On Tuesday, both sides got one last chance to state their case to the five-person selectboard.

“I think there is a divide between those of us who see housing as a crisis, and those who don’t,” said Nikki Stevens, chair of Shelburne’s Housing Committee. She lives near the property where the project is slated to be built and believes the development will address an urgent need.

“We are confident this project will contribute to the long-term sustainability and well-being of Shelburne,” Stevens said.

Neil Berger had the opposite view. He told the selectboard that he’s not convinced there’s a housing crisis, and if there is, it’s not Shelburne’s job to fix it.

“We are not obligated to worsen our village in the name of selfless citizenship,” Berger said. “I don’t want Shelburne to become like South Burlington — a soulless, ugly place.”

The South Burlington-based O’Brien Brothers has owned the Shelburne property for several years. After the legislature passed a law in 2023 requiring towns to accept higher housing density in their sewer service areas, O’Brien decided to build houses on the land, about a mile and a half from Shelburne village.

The property was in a rural district, zoned at one house per five acres. But under the rules of Act 47, O’Brien could build up to 500 if Shelburne included the property in its sewer service area. Shelburne’s municipal water and sewer pipes — though not the town’s designated sewer service area — just reach the property.

The vote on Tuesday confirmed that Shelburne will include the land in the sewer service area, opening it up to development. In exchange, O’Brien pledged to build no more than 375 units of housing, with 12 percent affordable, and to set aside areas for conservation and public paths.

Tuesday’s meeting lasted more than three hours. Just before the vote, O’Brien CEO Evan Langfeldt, who lives in neighboring Charlotte, described himself as a member of the community.

“We’re not passing through on our way to the next project,” he said. “We will live up to our commitments and make sure the project is done well.”

Selectboard member Chunka Mui noted before the vote that it will probably be two years before the first house is built. The full project, if all the homes are permitted, could take a decade, Langfeldt and Mui have both said.

Shelburne, like other Vermont towns, is facing some hard financial choices this year. Health insurance costs for the town’s 54 employees have risen 10 percent in a year, and the selectboard has discussed trimming law enforcement and employee benefits.

Last March, facing steep property tax increases, residents rejected the budget for the Champlain Valley School District, which includes Shelburne, Charlotte, Hinesburg, Williston and St. George. Voters approved a trimmed-back version a month later.

At the hearing on Tuesday night, Meagan Buckley, president and CEO of the elder care community Wake Robin, asked residents to consider the cutbacks that lie ahead in a time of stagnant population growth.

“There are some really hard conversations the town’s going to have about how to support our municipal workforce,” Buckley said. “These problems are not going to get any easier unless we think strategically around growth.”