PUTNEY — Friends of Putney clearly believe that they have rightly appealed thrice to Vermont Environmental and Supreme Courts in opposition to Windham & Windsor Housing Trust's Alice Holway Drive affordable-housing project.
Let's consider what is already approved, what Friends of Putney oppose and propose, why they lost two appeals, how they are paying their attorney, and the financial and social impacts of their appeals.
Of 3.96 acres: 0.91 acre will be developed as affordable housing (23%); 1.03 acres will remain as Putney Community Garden and Farmers' Market (26%); 2.02 acres will remain undeveloped (51%); so a total of 3.05 acres (77%) will be unchanged: smart-growth, energy-efficient housing preserving community gardening, supporting local agriculture, sustaining surrounding nature. What do Friends of Putney oppose? Why?
Advocating a town park, why are Friends of Putney not proposing that the undeveloped 2.02 acres be this park?
The Putney Development Review Board duly granted a land-use permit that Friends of Putney appealed to Vermont Environmental Court and Supreme Court, and each upheld de novo, granting and affirming summary judgment to Windham & Windsor Housing Trust.
"De novo" means that the courts newly considered and affirmed granting of the land-use permit, making any alleged errors and omissions by the Putney Development Review Board irrelevant.
"Summary judgment" means that there was no genuine dispute as to any material fact and that Windham & Windsor Housing Trust was entitled to judgment as a matter of law.
Having twice lost their appeals, Friends of Putney petitioned the Putney Selectboard to rescind the Alice Holway Drive project's land-use permit, but a selectboard cannot overrule courts.
The IRS decides whether a 501(c)(3) public charity's purpose is authorized. Its trustees are not free to give this tax-exemption to another group having a different purpose that will not be tax-exempt unless and until the IRS approves the change by issuing a new Letter of Determination. Otherwise, 501(c)(3) trustees could decide for themselves that a purpose of their choosing is tax-exempt.
Changing the name of the Inclusion Center - "a free drop in, activity center by and for all people with disabilities, medical concerns and interested community members," as described for BCTV - to Friends of Putney - "our primary focus is to preserve and conserve the open space at the entrance to Putney," as described on its website - does not make this new purpose tax exempt.
The IRS has ruled that employing donations to pay a 501(c)(3) public charity's attorney requires that legal actions be filed in its name as party plaintiff, which Friends of Putney has never done.
An experienced Putney builder told me that Friends of Putney's ongoing opposition to the Alice Holway Drive affordable-housing project has cost Windham & Windsor Housing Trust and funders at least $1 million in increased construction costs so far, while delaying construction of badly needed housing from 2022 to 2024 soonest.
Howard Fairman
This letter to the editor was submitted to The Commons.