Residents map favorite places for views, history, wildlife, etc. for future planning

August 12, 2023  |  By Sandy Yusen | Correspondent 

Local residents take part in a community values workshop held at St. Leo’s Hall in April. Photo by Billy Vigdor

There are many things people love about Waterbury. 

That was a clear takeaway from the just-released Community Values Mapping report shared by Waterbury’s Conservation Commission on Tuesday night. 

The report is the culmination of a process that began earlier this year. As part of its planning role, the Conservation Commission worked with the Vermont Department of Fish & Wildlife to ask Waterbury residents to help inform future planning and conservation efforts. The report mirrors similar studies conducted in more than 15 towns around Vermont.

The result is a report that includes a series of maps that compiled the data from two workshops – one online and one in person – held this past spring with over 70 Waterbury residents. Participants worked in groups to identify the places in Waterbury they value for scenic views, recreation, history, commercial activity, nature/wildlife, and more. 

“One of the commission’s responsibilities is to have an inventory of the town resources,” explained Billy Vigdor, who chairs the Conservation Commission and oversaw the mapping process. “This process is a good way to get a sense of what values residents have around those resources.”

Some of the values participants noted span the town’s entire geographic area. The map representing scenic views for example covers nearly all of Waterbury. By comparison, areas valued for commercial activity are less extensive, concentrated primarily in the village and along Routes 100 and 2.

Ariel Mondlak, Jen Gelbstein and Martha Staskus go over their group's ideas during the values workshop. Photo by Billy Vigdor

Jens Hilke, a conservation planner with the Department of Fish & Wildlife, commented on the historic areas that residents identified: “I have never seen a historic area as expansive as Waterbury, but it’s exciting and interesting to see how much of the landscape is seen as having a rich, vibrant history.”

The report also includes a map with multiple value themes layered together. As Hilke explained, overlapping areas show the complexity of the community relationship with those locations and the different groups that use and value those spaces. It also suggests that there could be many questions of how to maintain multiple values simultaneously in the same places. For example, in addition to the village and the Waterbury Reservoir, residents highlighted the Shutesville Hill wildlife crossing corridor along Vermont Route 100 in Waterbury Center near the Stowe line as an area where commercial and natural areas intersect. 

Vigdor said the Conservation Commission plans to use the report to inform planning and help direct short-term projects. The group also will refer to it to ensure that the commission’s goals are consistent with the priorities town residents have voiced. 

“One of the key goals of the project is to clarify the positive aspects of Waterbury, which can inform a number of town decisions and processes, including community and land use planning and investments that help shape the future of Waterbury,” Vigdor said, adding that the report could also be useful to other groups such as the Planning Commission and Revitalizing Waterbury.

“The data is a useful gut check for the different values at play in Waterbury. When planning for a lot of different things at different times, conservation commissioners need to have a balancing act based on how different values are weighted in a community. This report provides tools to help achieve that balancing act,” Hilke said.

Duncan McDougall, John Malter and Doug Greason present their group's input during the mapping workshop. Photo by Billy Vigdor

In addition to producing a report, the entire exercise had another benefit of bringing together local residents to brainstorm about their community. Vigdor described how in the workshops the participants enjoyed “meeting new people and talking about what they were excited about in town and positive things they liked.” 

The process attracted people from a variety of backgrounds and interests, too. “I was so struck by how many groups were represented,” Hilke added. “I saw tremendous success in how many people came out and how many different viewpoints were shared.” 

As one online participant shared, “I appreciate having a high-level view of the things the Waterbury community cares about.”

The final report will be posted on the Conservation Commission page of the town’s website.