No Essex Prison
The Vermont Department of Buildings and General Services, along with the Department of Corrections are proposing the construction of a 112,000 square foot correctional facility in the Town of Essex, Vermont. This facility will be a replacement of Chittenden County Regional Correctional facility in South Burlington.
It is estimated to cost Vermont tax payers $70,000,000 in a time when all VT communities, including Essex, are struggling with converging crises around housing, poverty, addiction, flooding, aging infrastructure, healthcare costs, and the already skyrocketing tax burden associated with trying to deal with all of these things.
So far, officials from the DOC and the BGS have been unable to offer meaningful information on how this facility will impact our community. And they have failed to answer questions we've been asking. For these reasons, we are inviting our neighbors to learn more about the proposal, ask questions, and get involved with efforts to bring this issue to a vote on Town Meeting Day, 2025.
Mailing List
TopPlease join our mailing list to learn more about the prison proposal, or to get plugged in to efforts to put this issue on the ballot. While we feel like we've seen enough to warrant the entire community having a say in whether or not this prison gets built, we're interested in starting a broader dialog and hearing from you all directly!
Please note we are circulating a paper petition. This form allows us to keep you updated about the prison project and facilitate signature collection. You will still need to sign in-person.Where does this project stand?
TopRight now we are near the beginning of a very long planning process that will play itself out both here in Essex Town and in Montpelier. Current town zoning regulations prohibit the construction of any correctional facility in the places where the state wants to build. The State has requested zoning regulations be ammended in order to accommodate the facility, and this proposal has been discussed in several in-person and virtual meetings held by the Planning Commission and the Essex Community Justice Center.
Community pushback has been considerable, people have a lot of questions that remain unanswered, including the Planning Commission. During the Planning Commission meeting on 11.14.24, board consensus was that they do not have enough information to proceed with any zoning changes without more information from the DOC, BGS, as well as other communities that host prisons in Vermont. This is essentially where we are, in an information gathering phase. No progress will likely occur until January.
Note regarding Development Review Board / Planning Commission restructure: The zoning ammendment request will continue to work its way through the Planning Commission in 2025. If the ammendment passes, the new Development Review Board will then take responsibility for reviewing the State of VT's site plan.
Relevant Planning Commission meetings can be viewed here:
Prison Plans
TopThe State is currently proposing construction of a facility with two buildings, a "secure" facility (prison), and a "re-entry" facility, where prisoners are required to live, but have more freedom of movement to leave prison grounds during the day. The main prison building would be around 103,000 square feet and hold up to 128 people. The re-entry facility would be around 9,000 square feet and hold up to 30 people. The entire site would take up around 14 acres. The State has proposed changing Essex Town zoning law to allow construction on two sites. At some point in the future, they plan to choose one site to move forward with construction.
The presentation given by the DOC and BGS at the Planning Commission can be viewed here.
Site 1
The State's prefered location is in forested land in the area near where the off-ramp of Rte 289 meets Colchester Road, between the CSWD transfer station and Suzie Wilson Road. Aside from being next to a landfill, the site is also close to a gas pipeline, and potentially impacts access to VAST snowmobile trails in the winter. The State ranks the environmental impact of building a prison on this site as "bad" in their own presentation, but justifies the construction here by essentially saying that the environmental impact is low because there is already a landfill and gas pipeline in the area. They also note how the surrounding area includes protected and endangered species, and has a high biological and conservation value due to VNHI rating. The State has not conducted any environmental impact studies, and they have no plans to do this before the zoning laws are changed to accomodate the prison plans.
Site 2
The second proposed location is in a partially forested, partially industrial site up the hill from the vacinity where River Road meets North Williston Road. Here, the prison would be built between what is now operated by a heavy machinery company and a large solar array. This site borders several residential properties. The State also states in its own proposal that the area has a "bad" designation for site size, accessibility, topographics, environmental impact, developable area, and available utilities. So this is certainly the more disruptive location to the environment, as well as Essex Town community members.
Who are we?
TopWe are a group of Essex residents who connected at recent Planning Commission meetings regarding prison construction plans. Although our current participants are all interested in preventing this prison from being built, we are also committed to putting the power to make this decision in the hands of the community through a vote on Town Meeting Day. This is an all-volunteer effort and we are looking for help and support from anyone who might be interested in collecting signatures or engaging the broader community in discussion about the State's plans to build a prison in Essex.
Please sign up for the mailing list, or email us directly with questions at noessexprison@proton.me.