Downtown status is revoked

To obtain the designation, the town is required to be a member of a regional planning commission. The select board and village trustees were looking to join the Northeastern Vermont Development Association, based in St. Johnsbury, so the Agency of Commerce and Community Development only suspended the town’s program benefits for 90 days in hopes it would join a regional planning commission.

On Feb. 6, the 90-day suspension ran out, and the Agency of Commerce and Community Development said it had not received Morristown’s application, nor had it heard from the town since December.

The town’s application was complete, missing only a letter from the regional planning commission confirming Morristown’s planning process.

“It’s unfortunate that, unlike with other de-designations due to towns being unable to support the efforts necessary, there is a voluntary component here,” said Gary Holloway, Vermont’s downtown program coordinator. “They couldn’t work things out with their regional planning commission.”

With regret, Holloway recommended that the board vote to strip Morristown of its downtown designation, and 10 of the 12 board members voted to follow his recommendation.

Tasha Wallis, chair of the Lamoille County Planning Commission and a member of the downtown board, did not attend the meeting because of the conflict.

Michael Desrocher, also a member of the downtown board, lives in Morrisville and decided to abstain from the vote.

Downtown Designation has had its privileges over the past decade, but Morristown officials are sticking to their assertions that they have the professional staff needed to seek grants and help businesses without the state’s assistance.

“I am not overly concerned about losing downtown designation,” said Todd Thomas, Morristown’s zoning and planning director.

“Do I see it hindering what we want to do? No. I think we will continue to see things move along,” said Tricia Follert, Morristown’s community development coordinator.

The irony of the situation is that Morristown’s beef with the Lamoille County Planning Commission stemmed from a feeling that the commission had overstepped its bounds on Act 250 — Vermont’s land-use and development law. Because of the way Act 250 is written, though, even with Morristown leaving the planning commission, “we will still be involved in the Act 250 process,” said Wallis, and the town lost a seat at the table when it comes to making decisions.

Downtown perks

Since 2006, the town has been awarded $259,000 in downtown transportation grants, money that only designated downtowns are eligible for. That grant money helped pay for half a million dollars in sidewalk, streetlight and road imDowntown designation also makes available tax credits for building and business owners who want to improve their properties, and gives priority consideration for other state grants, benefits Holloway says the town has lost without designation.

All in all, owners of roughly a dozen downtown properties got a break on their taxes after participating in the program.

Caleb Magoon, owner of PowerPlay Sports, was one of the people who indirectly benefited from these tax credits. His landlord, Gary Bourne, leveraged $79,000 in downtown tax credits for a $455,000 renovation of his building, which has multiple apartments upstairs and retail space below.

“This building has received a lot of tax credits, and at least a portion of my success is attributable to the downtown designation,” Magoon said.

Even so, Magoon believes many projects in town would have happened even without the designation. Even the owner of the Arthur’s Department Store buildings, which were renovated with the help of $531,150 in state tax credits, believes he would have been able to complete the project without the designation, though he admits he’s not sure what he would have lost.

“We used a lot of different grant sources for that project,” said Jim Lovinsky, executive director of Lamoille Housing Partnership, which owns the Arthur’s buildings. “I’m not sure exactly what we would have lost, but I don’t think we would have been affected too badly. I guess with a town like Morristown growing, I hope they don’t lose too much.”

Morristown’s Alliance for Culture and Commerce, the downtown organization that was established to meet requirements for downtown designation, will continue to grow and come up with feasible projects for the village. Follert says maybe now it will be able expand its reach to the rest of the town, as well.

“My biggest concern is, should we ever want to get designation back, I think the state will be reluctant to approve it,” Magoon said.

Follert and Thomas don’t see rejoining the Lamoille County Planning Commission or regaining designated status anytime soon.