BETHEL — It was a packed house at the Town of Bethel Planning Board meeting last week. Of primary interest to many in the crowd who attended on Monday, December 6 was an application for a …
This item is available in full to subscribers.
Please log in to continue |
BETHEL — It was a packed house at the Town of Bethel Planning Board meeting last week. Of primary interest to many in the crowd who attended on Monday, December 6 was an application for a subdivision and campground to be located on Pine Grove Road proposed by BESIDE Cabins.
Based out of Quebec, Canada, BESIDE describes itself on its website as “an independent magazine and media brand that aims to bridge the gap between humans and nature—with high-quality editorial content and immersive experiences.”
Alix Ouellet, Vice President of BESIDE Habitat, explained that the company began as a media brand in 2016 and publishes their advertising-free magazine twice a year with articles focused on nature and cultural topics.
To advance their described mission of “reconnecting people to nature,” BESIDE Habitat launched in 2019 with the purchase of 1,200 acres of land in the Lanaudière region of Quebec, about an hour north of Montreal.
BESIDE says this cabin and short-term rental destination is designed “for those seeking to get back to nature, use their hands while learning new skills, experience tranquility, and belong to a like-minded, values-driven community.”
Ouellet said a guiding principle of BESIDE Habitat developments is to preserve as much of the land and natural surroundings as possible. She explained their model at Lanaudière was to develop 15 percent of the land with purchasable cabins and small rental units and put the rest into a conservation easement so it will be protected from further development.
“[BESIDE] developed this economic model that makes it sustainable to buy large pieces of land and protect them,” Ouellet explained. “The interest was very crazy and we sold out the 75 homes in a few months. The rest is pristine land with forests and lakes. It’s proven to work really well and now we are scaling the model with the objective of protecting 500 million square feet of nature in the next 10 years. It’s really the mission of BESIDE Habitat.”
Ouellet said that BESIDE has bought a second property near Ottawa. If approved, their proposal for Bethel would be their third destination and their first in the United States.
“We’re always looking for large land that has a high ecological value,” Ouellet said. “We want to buy land that is worth protecting.”
Bethel Proposal
Terresa M. Bakner of Whiteman, Osterman & Hanna LLP presented a brief overview of the proposed cabin and short-term rental development to the Planning Board on Monday. She was joined by Scott Quinn of the engineering firm McGoey, Hauser and Edsall as well as Ouellet and Lizane Prioetti, project manager for BESIDE Habitat.
The applicants came before the planning board in May with a concept that involved a conservation subdivision with lots smaller than five acres. They felt it was appropriate with a property of that size to stick with five-acre lots.
“So they’re spread further apart and there’s a fewer number of lots additionally.”
Bakner said that of the 800-acre property, BESIDE proposes to develop 25 percent and preserve the rest of the property - about 600 acres.
The project proposes 57 single-family residential lots of at least five acres each. These cabins, or single family residences, can be one, two or three bedrooms and range in size from 800-1,500 square feet each.
Bakner explained that each lot would include a small clearing for the cabin, while keeping the rest of the lot undeveloped.
“The goal of BESIDE cabins is to create cabins in little clearings within a much larger lot,” said Bakner. “They want to maintain control of the rest of the lot to make sure people don’t cut down trees or change vegetation or have an adverse effect on the very environmental conditions that they want to preserve.”
In addition to the 57 single-family homes, the project would also include some 46 “pods” or year-round, short-term rentals that are owned and managed by BESIDE Habitat.
“BESIDE Cabin’s goal remains to seamlessly integrate these two uses while preserving a substantial amount of valuable open space including Hemp Meadow Brook and all of the wetlands associated with the Brook,” Bakner wrote in a letter to the Planning Board.
Pavillions, terraces and recreational installments will offer cultural and educational programs.
Developers say that gravel roads and a network of trails will encourage walking and bicycling within the site instead of driving vehicles.
The main entrance to the development would be on Pine Grove Road with an emergency access road that connects with Hartwood Drive.
Since their sketch plan back in May, Bakner said they’ve been looking at the property and looking at their design to present the board with plans that were “a little bit closer to what we’re looking to build there.”
Since then BESIDE Habitat has submitted a traffic evaluation, conducted soil testing and an ecological study of flora and fauna.
Some Planning board members and residents expressed concerns about water supply. Bakner said the applicants have hired a hydrogeologist to conduct a study of the site.
Local Concerns
Some residents of Smallwood, the hamlet immediately bordering the proposed development, have raised concerns about what it could mean for their community.
The Smallwood Civic Association and the recently formed Smallwood Aware Residents Team (SmART) have raised questions about any potential impacts to Mountain Lake, as well as impacts to traffic, road safety and the proliferation of short-term rentals that already exist in the Town of Bethel.
“Long before the Coronavirus Pandemic and the increase in real estate sales and the greater use of Smallwood cabins — year-round and seasonal — the Smallwood Civic Association has been grappling with issues related to the sustainability of Mountain Lake and the surrounding aquifer,” said Smallwood Civic Association President Jonathan Hyman. “These issues have been exacerbated by the proliferation of short-term rentals, uninspected septic systems, the expansion of the town's sewer district and climate change.”
Hyman said that some residents were worried about a development “on their doorstep” as Smallwood is already the most densely populated area of town.
“Recent testing data indicates that Mountain Lake is in danger,” Hyman said. “The Civic Association has significant cause for concern for the area's watershed, its lake, and quality of life issues related to overdevelopment."
“We understand the concerns of the people of Smallwood and we’re very sensitive to that,” Ouellet told the Democrat. “We’re going to take the time that we need to make sure we’re really doing our homework and answering all the questions.”
SmART contends that the project would “permanently and adversely change” the quality of life and community character of Smallwood.
“In addition to our own volunteer work, we have retained land use professionals to ensure this massive project gets the required careful and rigorous review that Bethel’s Planning Board is charged with performing,” said SmART Steering Committee member Clay Ruede. “This is the wrong project for the wrong part of town.”
Ouellet added that they’re committed to working with local communities but there may be some misconceptions about the proposed project.
“[The project] is anything but massive. At its maximum capacity, it’s about 35 percent lower density than Smallwood from what we’ve calculated ...” said Ouellet. “It is a conservation project. We’re not just developing to maximize square footage, we want to maximize conservation.”
There was some concern on social media that the “non-transient camping” designation meant the development would include the use of recreational vehicles (RV).
“We have never considered what we do ‘camping’. They are small cabins, but since they’re ‘off the grid’ we fall into the camping category,” she explained. “It has nothing to do with an RV park.”
The Town of Bethel Planning Board took no official action during their December 6 meeting besides declaring themselves as the lead agency for this proposal.
2 comments on this item Please log in to comment by clicking here
DRC
As year round residents, homeowers and tax payers in Smallwood since 1985, we are AGAINST these two projects. We want to preserve the peaceful quality of living in this small hamlet. The people on our town planning board should resign for even thinking these projects would be a good thing!
Tuesday, December 14, 2021 Report this
ctyburski
It should be noted that the following comment by Ms. Outllet at the end is inaccurate: "It has nothing to do with an RV park." Or, at minimum, it does not align with their most recent iteration of their proposal.
Exhibit C of BESIDE Cabin's updated proposal dated November 22, 2021 is a detailed map of the project. Page 2 clearly uses the language, "Campground & RV Park (Special Permit)"
Matt, if you would like, I can send you a copy of the document and highlight the reference.
Tuesday, December 14, 2021 Report this