A plan to build a community inspired by the writings of Joseph Smith, founder of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day saints, has left many Vermont residents upset and confused.
The NewVistas Foundation, led by Mormon Utah resident David R. Hall bought almost 900 acres of property in the towns of Sharon, Strafford, Tunbridge and Royalton, about 20 minutes away from Dartmouth’s campus. The purchases are part of a plan to create a 20,000-person, ideal community in Vermont. So far, Hall said he has spent about $100 million on the project, and he currently spends about $15 to $20 million a year. In total, he estimates the project will cost between $3 and $5 billion.
While Hall remains optimistic about his plan, other Vermont residents harbor reservations. John Dumville, former Vermont historic sites operations chief and South Royalton resident, questioned Hall’s confidence in the plan’s success, given the number of permitting processes and land use restrictions in the state. He said that while he has not yet decided his thoughts on the plan, he does not think Hall’s chosen location is the right place for the proposed community.
Kathy Leonard, an environmentalist and member of the Facebook group “Stop the ‘NewVista’ Project,” which currently contains 523 members, echoed Dumville’s thoughts that Tunbridge and the surrounding towns are not the right places for the project. She said that she is fundamentally opposed to the community.
“I’m opposed to gigantism, and this project seems to perfectly fit that bill of gigantism,” she said.
Hall chose these areas of Vermont in part due to their proximity to Joseph Smith’s birthplace in Sharon. He said the group’s ultimate goal is to create a sustainable, environmentally-friendly community focused on quality of life for its residents. The proposed community in Vermont is one of many the foundation seeks to open across the country.
Hall, who also serves as president of the technology company Novatek, said the inspiration for the NewVistas communities began in 1973 when he read a document by Joseph Smith describing plans for a “plot of Zion,” his plan for a perfect community. As Hall’s other businesses became successful, he began focusing more of his energies into building such a community. Currently, there are about 150 full-time employees working on the project, he said.
The project is “a new concept for living,” Hall said, that combines both urban and rural aspects. While people will be housed together in a small, dense area, the community will maintain a focus on gardens and natural growth.
“We have local food, local labor for that farmer to use, but also a full economy with heavy industry, light industry, commerce, education, sports, everything going on in the community,” he said. “Not as dense as a city, but much more dense than straight rural.”
NewVista’s website also describes the proposed community’s focus on creating an “econosystem” with interconnected businesses and efficient use of resources. The community at large would lease property to individuals, and all capable adults would be required to work.
As part of the project, Hall worked on developing several new technologies. He is in the process of creating a sewage system that uses foam instead of wastewater to minimize the community’s environmental impact. He has also worked on developing larger-than-average structural support systems for the community’s buildings that can be used to store furniture when it is not in use. Hall said that these support systems were first described in Joseph Smith’s plot of Zion writings. The system would allow for modular room layouts that can serve multiple purposes, minimizing the community’s land usage.
Despite his own Mormon faith, and the Mormon inspirations for the proposed community, Hall says that the community would be open to a diversity of religious beliefs. He characterized earlier attempts by Mormon leaders to create insular communities as misguided.
Hall said the community is a long-term project, one that will likely not be completed until after his death. The NewVistas Foundation exists to continue his work even after he is gone, he said.
When asked about where residents for the 20,000-person community will come from, Hall said that people are naturally attracted to “beautiful and sustainable” communities. He emphasized the amount of open space in Vermont, which he said could be used to house a large residence while still leaving leftover land for those who do not wish to join the community.
Steven Campbell, chairperson of the planning commission for Strafford, said that Vermont’s land development laws, combined with local oversight of development projects, would limit the speed of the plan’s approval. Given the scope of the project, he said, laws would likely change several more times before any formal plan is submitted, further complicating the process.
Ira Clark, a member of the Sharon planning commission, said that he has heard some concern in town about the plan, which he said was expected given the size of the town and the project. There needs to be reasoned discussion about the plan, he said, before residents make any decisions. He noted that the project would likely have major impacts on the town’s infrastructure and services given the influx of people.
In response to critics, Hall said that while he understands the oppositions’ point of view, he does not think they are looking far enough ahead. Currently rural towns in Vermont with large areas of land surrounding homesteads are environmentally harmful and not sustainable, he said. Hall also said there is not enough productivity from the land in its current state, and that many residents are forced to commute to other cities to make a living.
Still, Hall has struggled to win over Vermont residents. Dumville said that when he goes into town, he hears many residents discussing the proposed plan, which has become a large issue in South Royalton, negatively.
Leonard said that Hall does not seem to be familiar with Vermont or its people, and criticized his lack of effort in reaching out to town residents before purchasing properties. Creating an urban environment in rural Vermont would be a mistake, she said.
“It seems like he’s trying social engineering from afar without any local input,” Leonard said.
Correction appended (March 31, 2016):
The original version of this article incorrectly called the planned community, an "ideal community."David R. Hall did not refer to the plan as an "ideal community." This error has been corrected.
