The Waitsfield Select Board received a very intriguing proposal this week when Aron Shea, Shea Property Services/Vermont Signature Homes, pitched a plan to build 20 workforce housing units on town-owned land north of Waitsfield Village.
The land, some 11-12 acres located between the town gravel pit and Route 100, is within the town’s municipal water service area and could have access to wastewater disposal capacity on other lands that Aron Shea and his brother Cory Shea own which is adjacent to the town land.
For the sake of argument, let’s play out how that might work. The town gravel pit is 74.2 acres, some of which includes the area where gravel is extracted. There are some hills at the back/west side of the land. In the front, on the east side, is a relatively flat area where the Sheas hope to develop much-needed workforce housing.
In 2006, the last time the town re-assessed property, the 74.2-acre parcel was assessed at $351,300. Per the Vermont tax department, that 2006 townwide reappraisal means the town’s Common Level of Appraisal was 66.85 in 2023. At a minimum, trueing up the CLA would mean that parcel could be worth 33.15% more, or $467,756.
Without trying to parse the relative value of flat land versus gravel veins and hilly sections, that could mean that 11 of the 74 acres were worth $69,531 or about $3,476 for each of the 20 units of workforce housing. That’s not banking math or actuarial math and definitely not mortgage math. It’s just a way to get a sense of potential value of land the town may dedicate, donate, lease, deed or in some other way assign to become workforce housing.
That does not take into account property taxes the town will receive from 20 units that sell as affordable workforce housing. There will be some offset there. Currently the land is owned by the town and the town does not pay property taxes on its own parcels. Adding 20 units of housing to the town’s municipal water system has value as well.
Taken together as a proposal, this add water and stir idea that could yield 20 units of housing within as little as two years seems like a no brainer.
