Colchester’s Development Review Board has approved plans for a proposed $8 million hotel on a small slope overlooking Malletts Bay in Chittenden County after months of heated opposition. The proposed project, named The H on Malletts Bay, would be the first new development to connect to the Mal letts Bay sewer that is under construction. Residents are concerned that if local and state regulations designed to protect Lake Champlain are not enforced, the project could set a dangerous precedent for development in Malletts Bay. The 40-page decision signed last month outlines the board’s decisions on how the project at 166 West Lakeshore Drive and 180 West Lakeshore Drive complies with the town’s development regulations. Residents opposed to the project say it doesn’t, and they plan to appeal. READ MORE “The town has not only ignored all the science and the data that so many citizens have provided and testified to throughout the permitting process, but they have turned a deaf ear to the people that will bear the burden of this irresponsible decision for decades to come,” resident Jeanne Welch said. The town’s Development Review Board, or DRB, said the final plat, site plan and conditional-use applications for the project meet town standards and outlines 24 additional conditions that need to be met. These include stipulations for parking, sidewalk crossings, rights of ways and easements. The inn project must comply with a 20-room limit. Residents opposed to the project say it is environmentally detrimental and visibly unsuitable for the 2-acre plot. They argue the project is inconsistent with the 2019 Town Plan that provides an outline for land use and town development and prohibits hotel development along the shoreline.  “We are disappointed with the DRB decision, but hope that Act 250 will recognize how out of scale this project is with the surrounding natural environment, including the scenic shoreline of Malletts Bay,” Brice Simon, a lawyer representing a group of town residents, wrote in an email to VTDigger. The property at 166 West Lakeshore Drive includes a dock and parking area with lake access. The property at 180 West Lakeshore Drive previously included a motel that was demolished in 2017. The project looks to construct seven buildings into the existing bayside slope on land, according to the plans submitted by the Hazelett Strip-Casting Corp., which owns the property, with parking planned on the other side of the road.  Hazelett, which manufactures metal parts, has been based across the street at 135 West Lakeshore Drive since 1956. It was acquired in 2021 by the EBNER Group, which is headquartered in Austria. Opponents of a proposed hotel project on the shore of Malletts Bay in Colchester on Aug. 6, 2025. Photo by Glenn Russell/VTDigger Developers are calling the 20-room hotel with a 40-seat restaurant, 60-person event space and an accessory bathhouse an “inn,” according to the plans filed. But residents opposed to the project say the language is a ruse to get around town zoning regulations. Last year, a court decision pertaining to a property on the north side of East Lakeshore Drive found the town failed to prove it needed to condemn and take Mongeon Bay Properties’ land to build a stormwater treatment facility. That parcel flooded in 2019 after a rainstorm caused the stormwater drainpipe to rupture. The town’s outflow pipe failed due to deterioration from a lack of maintenance, court documents state. The town denied it was at fault, and the property owner filed a lawsuit in 2022. In his March 25 decision last year, Superior Court Judge Samuel Hoar Jr., found “abject failure” on the town’s part to “consider the greatest public good and the least inconvenience and expense” to the town and to the plaintiff. “This case is one of the many reasons I feel the town has failed us,” said Welch, who is concerned town officials aren’t considering the stormwater and other environmental concerns raised about the hotel project. The lawyer representing the residents summed up their fears.  “While we understand the importance of economic activity, it should not be at the expense of the natural environment that attracts tourists to our state,” Simon said. “We will continue to zealously oppose this project.” Residents may appeal the DRB decision in Vermont Environmental Court within 30 days, according to Zachary Maia, the town’s development manager. He and other town officials declined to answer questions. As a quasi-judicial board, the DRB’s explanation is in the decision, Maia said. Meanwhile, the Vermont Natural Resources Council is helping the resident group Save Malletts Bay raise funds to maintain opposition to the project.  “VNRC has gotten involved in this project because we are concerned about the specific environmental impacts, and because the project raises issues of statewide concern,” said Lauren Hierl, executive director.  The Vermont Shoreland Protection Act regulates waterfront development to prevent water quality degradation and protect habitats. As proposed, she said in an email, the project does not have the space available to treat all the stormwater that will be discharged into Lake Champlain, which is polluted and subject to a federally mandated remediation plan. Marilyn Sowles, a former selectboard member and a member of Save Malletts Bay, continues to be concerned about the effect the project would have on water quality. She said polluted stormwater runoff from developed land increases phosphorus — a major pollutant in Lake Champlain — at higher rates than even agricultural runoff. Read the story on VTDigger here: Residents question Colchester board’s approval of a $8M waterfront hotel project. ...read more read less