Post Mills Airport owner seeks diner enthusiast for new build

Brian Boland, owner of the Post Mills Airport, is searching for someone interested in running and living in a diner he hopes to build on his property.

You can read Rob Gurwitt's article in Daybreak.

According to the Vermont Agency of Natural Resources' Natural Resources Atlas, however, the proposed location of the diner is in an area with soils of "statewide importance." This is the same soil type found on the parcel proposed by the Town of Thetford for workforce housing, a nearby 7.8 acres it recently decided to sell after opposition to the project from residents.

One of the most compelling arugments against the proposed workforce housing project was the need to conserve agricultural soils. In fact, on page 121 of the recently adopted Thetford Town Plan, the Selectboard included a Recommendation in the Land Use chapter, stating that:

The Planning Commission should investigate new locations that would be available for economic expansion and consider commercial, village, and neighborhood land use areas away from prime agricultural land and towards extant development foorprints and lower quality soils.

Post Hills is home to a large portion of Thetford's remaining agricultural soils, and the Post Mills airport along with the adjacent, decommissioned racetrack, are some of the largest remaining undeveloped tracks of these soils.