True North is applying for permits to develop its therapeutic wilderness program on a 650-acre parcel of land at the end of Bassett Road. True North currently works with teens on land in Waitsfield and in Roxbury.
The company’s offices are in Waitsfield and it is owned by Tyler Maves and Madhuri Barefoot. They are seeking permission to develop three buildings and 12 campsites on the land, as well as construct 2,000 feet of roadway into the parcel.
At this week’s May 10 hearing, Barefoot and Maves, as well as their attorney and engineer, fielded questions about the project from the DRB as well as representatives from the state and members of the public.
As proposed, the project calls for a garage, a student support center and a sugarhouse. Students in the program are grouped in teams of six with two counselors. The application calls for a maximum of 42 students (and 14 counselors) to be on the land year round. Proposed are 12 permanent campsites, each with two yurts and a composting toilet. One yurt is proposed at 24 feet in diameter (with a woodstove) and the other at 12 feet in diameter. The composting toilets would be eight feet by four feet. The campsites will be connected by an existing trail network, with some new trails added to reach some sites.
The 650-acre parcel of land abuts the Phen Basin block of the Camel’s Hump State Forest. Slopes on the land are steep in spots, according to engineer Don Marsh, ranging from 5 to 50 percent. The parcel is also subject to a public recreation easement which Vermont Department of Forest, Parks and Recreation spokesperson Mike Fraysier explained provides for unlimited dispersed pedestrian access to the land.
That easement runs with the land and Fraysier said it allows the public to hike, walk, snowshoe, ride horses, hunt, and ski on the property. Gary Sawyer with the Vermont Agency of Natural Resources noted that the parcel of land contains and is adjacent to important bear habitat.
The 650 acres is in two of Fayston’s zoning districts, the soil and water conservation district as well as the rural residential. Attorney Rebecca Boocher said that the uses were allowed in the soil and water conservation district as “outdoor recreational facility.” Nine of the campsites are in this district, she said, and tent platforms could be considered trail shelters or warming huts which are allowable uses. The composting toilets, she said, could be considered as accessory uses to an allowable uses.
Board chair Jonathan Shea said he was uncomfortable separating the yurts from the toilets from a zoning perspective. Board members asked questions about students, traffic, lighting, erosion and other issues.
The board will schedule a site visit for June and continue the hearing at its June 14 meeting.
True North is also currently seeking a state Act 250 permit for its operations on Dana Hill in Waitsfield where it operates on land owned by Barefoot’s parents and in the Howe Block of the Camel’s Hump State Forest.
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