Business View Civil and Municipal | March 2021

148 CIVIL AND MUNICIPAL MARCH 2021 O'Leary-Burke Civil Associates, PLC 13 Corporate Dr. Essex Jct. VT 05452 802-878-9990 obca@olearyburke.com  Land Surveying  Regulatory Assistance  Municipal Services  Environment Engineering  Construction Engineering  Civil Engineering  Land Use Planning  Transportation Engineering industrial areas, which is not super common for Chittenden County communities,” says Owiso Makuku, Community Development Director for the Town of Essex. “We have companies like Blodgett Ovens, Gordini, Autumn Harp, and Revision. Glavel, whose product is a sustainable foam glass aggregate, will soon open its flagship manufacturing plant here.” The town has also just completed an overhaul of its Master Plan for the town center in collaboration with the multi-disciplinary planning and consulting firm, SE Group. Building on the original 1991 Master Plan, the new “ETC Next” proposal foresees a future where the Town Center and now-rebranded Essex Experience (formerly the Essex Shoppes and Cinema) will have the groundwork laid for a denser, more walkable urban environment. Planning Commission members have already approved a new, 22,500-square-foot building for the Essex Experience location. Housing an immersive and interactive arts space playfully called “Babaroosa”, the venue will provide a big boost to the region’s creative economy. “It’s being modeled after the work of the Meow Wolf collective from Santa Fe, NM, but with a Vermont flavor and approach,” Makuku says. “It’s going to be about a $25 million investment.” From a housing perspective, Essex values both its urban and rural components and would like to see balanced future growth, with an appropriate range and mix of housing types and densities. “We just jointly formed our community’s first Housing Commission,” says Haney. “They’re in the education and assessment phase right now, but the goal is for us to be in concert in terms of what kinds of housing needs to go where. Chittenden County itself has a housing goal of 3000 units by 2025. All that housing shouldn’t just be happening in Essex. It should be spread across the county but we have a vision for what needs to happen.” Champlain Housing Trust (CHT), a local housing non-profit, is helping them get there. “We have