DRAFT Chittenden County 2026 ECOS Regional Plan | Supplement 5: Metropolitan Transportation Plan

In the Town of Essex, we are looking at developers who are applying to build homes only 260' behind a gas station where the homeowners will be exposed to toxic fumes like benzene on a constant basis, on land that has a high water table and was classified as wetlands and on other land where there is an ongoing landslide, a common occurrence on our sandy, steep slopes. Smart growth to me means that: our governments value human life enough to approve of builds that have minimal risk of harm, our governments prioritize the well-being, safety and health of Vermonters, we take serious the threat of changing weather patterns that will cause flooding and erosion of our lands, and we aim to preserve the sustainable, natural state of our environment and our irreplaceable natural resources. Unfortunately, we are not observing these things. We are seeing a race to the highest prices they can charge for a house, a total disregard for town subdivision and zoning regulations and a mad-man rush to develop on any unstable land - to get that dollar bill.

I thought I read this past year our state population decreased. This information was left out. It would be nice to include our most recent trends that is not COVID -driven.

Efficiency is not the problem. I want my bus drivers and their supervisors well paid and well staffed. They deserve it. Any more efficient with the schedules and no town would have a route. Any more efficient with buses completing their route and we all would miss our bus because we arrived as they were taking off. What we NEED is more federal dollars coming into our state of Vermont, directed to Public Services like mass transportation, our trains and bussing.

Essex Town is a transportation island. When I am without a car during weekdays, work hours my son has our family car. I walk to most of the stores I need to go to or I do not go out to shop and spend money at all. I do not understand how a nation so wealthy has so little funds invested in mass transportation. You guys have never been to a large city like Boston or NYC or overseas. Sen. Sanders and Leahy could bring home the F35s but could they bring home sufficient federal dollars to meet our transportation needs? Why isn't anyone at the Local, Regional and State levels speaking up, writing Congress to crack open our federal purse? We're in a time of multiple economic crises! Where do our politicians think we would get the $s we need to meet rural Vermonters', elderly Vermonters', folks with disabilities', school kids', working folks', etc. needs? where are our leaders?