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PROJECT PROFILE:
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Otter View Park,
Middlebury and Weybridge
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The view across the meadow to the wetland at Otter View Park. Universally accessible paths
provide opportunities for wildlife observation, bird watching, walking, biking and
other outdoor activites. The land will retain its rural feeling and spectacular views.
Middlebury Area Land Trust photo
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Otter View Park is a 15-minute walk from Middlebury College or from downtown Middlebury. It’s an appealing tract of open land nestled on a corner in a residential neighborhood, and bounded on one side by 600 feet of frontage on Otter Creek. The park has a grassy meadow, views of the Green Mountains, a wetland that is rich with bird life, and trails leading from the street to an overlook beside the creek.
In 2005, VHCB provided funds to help the Middlebury Area Land Trust (MALT) acquire this parcel from Middlebury College, with the idea of creating a 16-acre public park in one section and building one unit of affordable housing in another. Planning and fundraising for the project took several years. A group of Middlebury College environmental studies students drew up plans for the park layout and usage. After a number of open forums, the public supported the concept of combining open space with an affordable housing unit to be constructed by a local chapter of Habitat for Humanity. VHCB provided a grant for this component as well.
“It’s a great project,” said Weybridge resident Gary Starr, who co-chaired the fundraising campaign for the project. “We’ve gotten a good diversity of neighbors involved in it.”
- adapted by Ethan Parke from an article written by Doug Wilhelm
An early site plan for Otter View Park. Universally accessible paths and a board walk
across the wetland provide a route to the edge of the creek. A detention pond for
stormwater run off gathers silt before the water runs into Otter Creek.
(There are two house sites on the property, not three as shown on this plan.)
Middlebury Area Land Trust site plan
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