Sammis Reveals Plan For Exit 4 Land

Sammis Reveals Plan For Exit 4 Land By Sandy Vondrasek

Jesse and Jinny Sammis brought a "sketch plan" of their proposed development of the 172 acres they own west of I-89 and on either side of Route 66 for a "pre-application" consultation with Randolph Development Review Board last Tuesday.

The drawing that Jesse Sammis and engineer John Benson distributed to the DRB June 23 mapped out extensive development of the two Exit 4 quadrants the Sammises own—if completely built-out.

Jesse "Sam" Sammis indicated that whatever parts of the project do get developed—and that would be based on demand—would be over a 20-year period. In the meantime, the project still needs go through a lengthy permitting process, and issues such as water and sewer remained to be resolved.

The plan—encompassing both the southwest and northwest quadrants—includes:

• 24 two-story office buildings;

• nine light manufacturing facilities, some of which might have associated retail sales;

• 264 housing units, 100 in four-unit townhouses and the balance in three apartment buildings;

• a three-story hotel/conference center;

• a gas station/convenience store;

• a 6200-square-foot retail store; and

• the existing golf driving range, with a new recreation building/pro shop.

All of that, including parking lots, Sammis told the board, covered less than 30% of the 172 acres. The balance, he said, would be left open.

"There are no real estate projects like this that have as much open space," Sammis said after the meeting. "Centerra Park (in Lebanon, N.H.) has 75% coverage; we’re 28%."

After 10 years of waiting for the town to finalize a new Exit 4 zoning ordinance, Sammis said, he decided it was time to move ahead on his "master plan" for the land.

"It’s been a trying process, a good one, but way too long," he said of the Exit 4 process.

Since 1999, a series of Exit 4 committees have developed detailed zoning plans for Exit 4, none of which has ever been approved, and none of which included retail.

The most recent plan, approved by the Randolph Planning Commission last year, is now before the selectboard. Its future is uncertain, as the board has given indications it is inclined to change the document and then hold another hearing on it.

Therefore, the Sammis master plan appears headed for review under the "Mixed Use District" zoning amendment currently in effect for the area, which was adopted in 1990.

Sammis’s proposal would also face Act 250 review, and Sammis said last week he intends to start that process this month.

Before the DRB last Tuesday, Sammis noted, was a modification of a plan developed for him in 2004 by J. Graham Goldsmith Architects of Burlington, and previously shared with the Randolph Planning Commission. Act 250 officials had advised him to approach permitting via a "master plan," rather than in piecemeal bits, he said.

He noted that the plan wouldn’t necessarily be fully built-out, and that it might be modified—depending on demand for the various components—but that the density would not be increased. Also, he said, strict design standards for the entire project would be put in place, over the planned 20-year build-out.

Sammis said it was likely that he would develop some of the projects and sell some parcels to others to develop—with those developers bound to follow permitting and standards for the master plan.

Positive Stimulus?

"I believe it will be a big plus for the downtown," he said of his proposal.

Sammis noted that he had not received a single inquiry for leasing property he owns in the downtown—on the corner of Main and Merchants Row—in five years.

He said he felt it was "unquestionable" that development of the type he proposed would lead to more business for downtown merchants, and a draw for new businesses.

And, he said, it would benefit the town overall: "Business will raise the tax base, make tax bills less, and bring better-paying jobs."

Sammis acknowledged that current zoning does not allow stand-alone retail in the Exit 4/Mixed Use district, but he reiterated his belief that a certain kind of retail could be a big draw for the area.

"I think the retail I envision is not stand-alone. It is more along the lines of Simon Pearce (an upscale glass-blowing manufacturing/outlet store in Quechee), where retail is permitted with the business," he said.

Sammis added that he thought a national outlet, such as L.L. Bean or Orvis, would also be an asset.

As proposed, the 84 acres on the southwest quadrant would have the hotel/conference center, gas station/convenience store; driving range; five light manufacturing buildings; and 16 office buildings. There is one access road for the entire complex, across Route 66 from the McDonald’s restaurant, with an emergency exit further downhill.

The development on the northwest quadrant, about half of it housing, would not be visible from Route 66. Access would be from Hebard Hill Road, and possibly Harvey Road, according to Sammis. Harvey Road runs along and just west of I-89.

The sketch plan for this 88-acre parcel shows 25 townhouses and three, three-story apartment buildings on the western two-thirds of the parcel. Nearer to the Interstate are four light manufacturing buildings, another eight office buildings, and—tucked along I-89—a small retail store.

Sammis said he was committed to working collaboratively with the town; engineer Benson listed numerous local, regional, and state officials that had already been consulted about the project.

Those conversations have included talking to Randolph’s current Public Works Director John Coffey, and former Public Works Director Joe Voci, now a selectman, about tying the project into municipal water and sewer service.

Sammis said after the meeting that one possibility, in terms of water, would be to drill wells on his property that could serve both his development and the town.

"Up here," he said, "the water is good."

No Warning

Although the first part of the June 23 DRB hearing, on Salisbury Square, drew a large crowd, most folks had left by the time the Sammis proposal was taken up. That was likely due to the fact the review of Sammis’s proposal had not been warned. (The review also took The Herald reporter by surprise.)

Zoning Administrator Mardee Sanchez said after the meeting that she had determined that no warning was required for the June 23 hearing, as none of the four items on the agenda required public notice. Two of the four—pending applications from Salisbury Square and Central Vermont Shopping Center, Inc.— were "continuations" of earlier hearings. Nor, she said, was public notice required of the other two items: VTC’s request for a waiver of local Act 250 review for renovations to Judd Gym and the "pre-application conference" on the Sammis plan.

DRB members debated last Tuesday night if, in fact, that night’s consideration of the project’s "sketch plan" had officially launched its local review.

It is an important issue, members pointed out, because projects are considered under the bylaws currently in place at the time application is made. At present, the Mixed Use District requirements would govern development and review of the Sammis parcels. At some time in the near future, a new Exit 4 ordinance could, finally, be adopted—though its future, everyone agreed, was unknown.

"We can’t ask if it (the project) conforms to future regulations," DRB member Frank Reed pointed out. "We can’t presuppose the future."

‘Unfamiliar’ Process

So, the DRB used the procedures mapped out in the Mixed Use ordinance on the Sammis review.

Mixed Use review is "unfamiliar ground" for board members, pointed out board Chair Joel Tillberg: "We’ve never done it before," he said.

The Mixed Use review process—distinctively different than other types of permit review in Randolph—has two steps.

The first step, according to the bylaw, is "a pre-application conference where the developer discusses the project with the Board in order to determine its requirements and design suggestions."

This step also requires the DRB to indicate in writing to the developer, and to enter in it owns records, any changes that have to be made in the plan. The DRB also must decide which of the 10 sections of Act 250 it wants to take up in its review of the project.

Step two requires review of the project by the DRB as a Planned Unit Development. PUD review gives the DRB the opportunity to weigh in on matters such as water and sewer facilities, design components, and interior road development.

Sammis made his "pre-application" presentation last Tuesday, and the DRB proceeded to make its written entry into the records—and so it seems the local review process has officially begun.

However, Randolph Chamber of Commerce Executive Director Deb Jones pointed out that since abuttors had not been warned, the process could not have started.

The DRB asked Sanchez to get a legal opinion on the matter.

At the end of the hearing, the DRB agreed to enter into the public record that it had advised Sammis that retail is not permitted in the district, and that the DRB would give the project local Act 250 review only as regards impact on municipal services and conformance with the Town Plan.

Before that motion was approved, VTC President Ty Handy and local businessman and planning commission member Paul Rea spoke in support of the Sammis’ project.

"The most likely opportunity for this community is through the Sammises investing in it," Handy said. "He’s been patient and what he is proposing is clearly of a quality that will improve the community. I hope the town will work with them."

Rea echoed the sentiment.