Some Randolph Streets
Not Owned by Town
By M. D. Drysdale

This is not a town-owned street. Back Street, which runs behind Merchant's Row stores, is wholly owned by Jesse Sammis of the Green Mountain Stock Farm.

Randolph Selectmen are beginning to take notice of the fact that the town does not own several of its most important downtown streets.

That's been true for a long time, actually. When the railroad came through town in 1848, it acquired a great deal of land on each side of the track. Rail interests have retained ownership of this land and have leased the property to various businesses.

Many businesses and even homes located close to the railroad own their buildings but not the land underneath them. That was also true for streets that ran close to the railroad—the railroad owned them.

For years, therefore, the railroad has actually owned the land under all the streets around Depot Square. It has owned Salisbury Street, which runs to the post office and police station. It has owned Back Street, which runs next to the railroad behind Merchants Row stores. On the other side of the tracks, railroad lease land has comprised both Railroad Street and L Street, which leads past the Stagecoach.

For decades this fact was little more than an oddity, because the railroad charged very reasonable rates for the leases. When The Herald was printed at a Weston Street building (now owned by the White River Craft Center), for instance, the lease for the land under the building came to $300 a year.

Leased Land Sell-Off

Now, however, New England Central, which operates the railroad, owns just a narrow piece of property—pretty much just the tracks themselves. The extensive "leased land" remains in the hands of Great Trunk Corp., parent of Central Vermont Railway, Inc. And Great Trunk wants to sell it.

That means that the leased land can pass into private hands.

Exactly that has happened in Randolph. When Jesse "Sam" Sammis, owner of the Green Mountain Stock Farm development, purchased 2 South Main Street on the corner of Main and Merchants Row in 2005, he also purchased, separately, the whole of Back Street, from one end to another. For a price of $57,500, he acquired not only the street, but the 29 parking spaces that line it.

Two years earlier, when he purchased the former railroad station from the railroad and turned it into the handsome Depot Restaurant, Sammis also purchased the adjacent leased land. That purchase included almost all of Salisbury Street, even including the sidewalks, all the way from Depot Square to Summer Street.

Ironically, however, according tot he town tax map, the Town still owns a piece of Salisbury Street directly in front of the Depot Restaurant, including the parking spaces there. Contacted yesterday, however, Sammis said that is not accurate and that he does own the parking spaces.

The town of Randolph doesn't own the whole streets on the other side of the railroad either. Grand Trunk Corp. still controls that part of Railroad Street that threads its way past the Century 21 building. Grand Trunk also owns L Street, after it passes the Stagecoach building.

Parking Spaces

The streets situation came to public attention this fall when Sammis re-lined all the 29 parking spaces on Back Street and labeled them "Reserved." At the same time he made the rounds of Merchants Row owners and told them that as of Nov. 1 they could not continue to park behind their stores.

He wants to be able to offer reserved parking to businesses which lease his 2 South Main Street building. For instance, Sanborn Head Associates, renting most of the top floor, was designated 12 parking spaces.

According to one businessman, people have continued to park where they have always parked, and no attempt at enforcement has been made. However, they are nervous about the change.

The Town Selectmen are nervous, too, about the whole situation. On their behalf Supt. of Public Works Joe Voci was dispached to ask Sammis about his plans for Back Street.

He reported back to the board Nov. 28, confirming that Sammis is "the sole owner" of Back Street and the town has no legal right of way on the road.

(In fact, the official town map now designates it as "Former Back Street.")

Sammis, Voci said, told him that he "doesn't mind traffic going through there, but that it should be considered a private road."

Town Won't Plow

For that reason, Voci added, it was agreed that the town will not maintain the road this winter—that is, plow the snow—since the town does not plow private roads.

Voci told the Board that Sammis agreed and will arrange for winter maintenance on Back Street.

The news was somewhat alarming to board members.

"Who gets the phone calls in the middle of winter?" asked Selectman Larry Townsend.

"Where does the snow go?" he asked, noting that the town is able to plow that snow into big piles on Main Street and on Pleasant, an option that a private operator would not have.

There are a lot of "questions" that come to mind about the whole situation, Board Chair Jim Hutchinson said after the meeting.

Back Street is part of an important downtown traffic pattern: one-way east on Merchants Row and one-way west on Back Street.

In years past, Merchants Row was a two-way street, but the current arrangement is considered much better.