About the Project

East Village Expansion Advisory Committee

The Plainfield Select Board appointed the East Village Expansion Advisory Committee (EVEAC) in March 2025 to lead the development of a new neighborhood in the lower village of Plainfield Vermont. More about the project and its history below.

• See the Town's EVEAC page for meeting agendas, minutes and meeting recordings

About the Project

Following the town vote in March 2025 approving the opening of a reserve fund for the East Village Expansion project, Plainfield's Select Board appointed an advisory committee to lead this project with the following purpose.

The EVEAC shall develop a financially feasible plan for the Select Board to implement that will create infrastructure and sellable lots for a new neighborhood East of the current Lower Village, on 23.9 acres of land currently owned by Syringa Investments LLC and Pigeon Pond LLC, with the following goals:

1) Re-house those affected by the floods of July 2023 and July 2024;

2) Provide additional, affordable housing amidst Vermont’s housing crisis;

3) Include a mix of single-family homes, multi-plexes, tiny houses and apartments;

4) Revitalize the town, prioritizing flood-displaced and other Plainfield residents and those who have made significant contributions to the town;

5) Restore lost tax base;

6) Expand the Water and Wastewater user base;

7) Determine a timeline according to what makes the most sense logistically, ecologically, and financially:

8) Place infrastructure as early as possible, so that buyers can design and construct homes as early as possible;

9) Be cost-neutral to the Town;

10) Create public, common, and open space and paths that enrich the lives of Plainfield residents. 

Project History

Shortly following the flood that devastated Plainfield's lower village in the summer of 2024 and gave painful clarity to weak points of town infrastructure, an ad hoc steering committee of 17 Plainfield residents formed to explore creating a new neighborhood that would restore and add disaster resilient housing to the village.

The all volunteer committee had identified an area of flat land between Main St. and East Hill Rd, in the village zone but out of the floodplain and the owners were open to selling. The group pursued the project with the help of pro bono architect Sandy Vitzthum and engineering financed by a grant from the Vermont Community Foundation. The project's goals were:

1) Re-house those affected by the flood

2) Provide additional, affordable housing amidst Vermont’s housing crisis

3) Include a mix of single-family homes, duplexes, tiny houses and apartments

4) Revitalize the town, prioritizing flood-displaced and other Plainfield residents

5) Restore lost tax base

6) Place infrastructure in 2025, with homes ready as early as 2026

7) All cost-neutral to the Town

This project is:  Trying to make it possible for people who live here to stay and creating space for people who want to move here to be able to. We will find a way to prioritize the sale of these lots to people already living in Plainfield, those displaced by the floods, and those who will live in the houses built on these lots. 

This project is not:  Selling all developable land to the highest bidder or making Plainfield less affordable for people who pay property tax or rent.

What about the costs?  Our group’s commitment is to have the project be cost-neutral for the Town of Plainfield, with the costs of land acquisition and development being covered by the sale of the buildable lots, plus any grant funds we can obtain. Additionally, these buildable lots will help restore the Town tax base that was lost due to flooding and possibly expand it in the future. 

With the aim to start building infrastructure as soon as fall 2025, the ad hoc committee worked with 3 architects as well as 3 licensed engineers from Engineering Ventures and a local real estate firm owner to develop the project. They received Support from the Central Vermont Regional Planning Commission, the State Agency of Commerce and Community Development, and the VT Council on Rural Development, among others.

In March 2025 Plainfield residents voted 130-30 for the town to open a reserve fund for the project. Following this vote a Select Board-appointed advisory committee replaced the ad hoc steering committee. This new group guides the project on behalf of the town since April 2025.