The situation remains complicated because the State of Vermont and Woodstock do not explicitly recognize a restaurant as an Accessory On-Farm Business (AOFB) and, as a result, Peace Field is still waiting for two permits to allow the farm and restaurant to operate as one, integrated business as envisioned.
• The ACT 250 Commission was expected to meet in Woodstock at the end of July to consider the project; the meeting was canceled and rescheduled for September 8 at 2:00 pm.
• The Woodstock Town Design Review Board, which needs to approve a permit for the AOFB to operate, has asked for final comments and testimony to be submitted by 4:30 pm on September 15; no meeting has been scheduled, but the TDRB has stated that they will close this matter on September 30 and issue a written decision thereafter. According to statute, they have 45 days to do so. We do not believe there is a meeting on August 24 as previously anticipated.
• There have been two articles about Peace Field, one in the Standard on August 6 and the second in the Valley News on August 14. Both of them emphasized the controversy around the project without acknowledging that there is widespread community support for it! So far as we know, there are a very few individuals who oppose this project and many others who have voiced their support. John Holland wrote a response to the Standard article; his letter appeared in the 12 issue. If you haven’t seen this letter, email us and we’ll share a copy with you.
This doesn’t have to be a long or complicated message. Be sure to include the address and greeting below:
ATTN: Linda Matteson
State of Vermont
Natural Resources Board
District 3 Environmental Commission 100 Mineral Street, Suite 305
Springfield, VT 05156-3168
RE: Act 250 Land Use Permit Application #3W1122, Peacefield, LLC, Woodstock
Dear Ms. Matteson:
[ insert your message here ]
Send a copy of the letter by email to John Holland ([email protected]). [The Act 250 Commission won’t accept testimony from people who are not parties to this matter; as one of the parties, John will submit your message to the commission, as he has with others messages of support].
Again, this doesn’t have to be a long or complicated message. Be sure to include the address and greeting below:
Don Bourdon
Chair of the Town Development Review Board
sent by email to Neal Leitner ([email protected])
RE: Application T-5084-20, Peace Field LLC
Dear Mr. Bourdon and other Town Development
Review Board Members:
[ insert your message here ]
You can send this letter by email to Neal Leitner ([email protected]).
PLEASE SEND A COPY TO US. We will print emails we receive and send them (yes: on paper!) to the TDRB members to ensure that they receive messages in support of the project. Note: If you’ve already written in support, please submit your letter/email again and share a copy with us. We’ll print it and send it with the other messages we receive.
We’ll email you with details about how you can attend the meetings later on when we have more information about them.
Thank you for your efforts to help Peace Field Farm! They really do make a difference and it’s important to John Holland and Matt Lombard that they hear about community support for this project.
— Meredith, Jill & Michael
As we noted, your message of support doesn’t need to be long or complicated. But here are some points you may find inspiring:
61 CENTRAL ST, 2nd FL
WOODSTOCK, VT 05091
