West Dummerston, VT – The Development Review Board (DRB) in the town of Dummerston this week told the owner of Vermont’s dormant Maple Valley ski area that he should come back to re-request a zoning change once he has a clearer plan for what he wants to do with the property.

The ski area’s owner, MVS Associates, LLC of Stamford, Conn., earlier this month filed a zoning application for a conditional use permit with the town’s DRB to reopen the facility, closed for the past decade, as a four-season resort. Following a two-hour public hearing on Tuesday, the DRB told MVS’ Nicolas Mercede, who also owns the Winchester Stables in the nearby town of Newfane, to come back once he clarifies the list of activities planned for the site and addresses concerns expressed by some of Maple Valley’s neighbors regarding issues including noise from snowmaking equipment and light pollution.

In addition to resuming skiing and snowboarding day and night at Maple Valley, Mercede’s application calls for a summer mountain biking, fall foliage viewing, concerts, a retail store and a ski/bike repair shop. An attorney for MVS agreed on Tuesday that the firm will submit a complete site plan if requested.

Maple Valley first opened in 1963 beside Vermont Route 30, six miles northwest of Brattleboro, and operated through 2001 as one of Vermont’s smaller ski areas and one of its few to offer night skiing. It featured two double chairlifts and a t-bar reaching an elevation of 1,312 feet on Sugar Mountain with a vertical drop of around 1,000 feet. MVS Associates acquired the ski area at an auction for back taxes in 1997.

Mercede’s plan calls for no changes to the mountain’s existing ski trail layout, but he acknowledges that after 10 years of dormancy the base buildings and the lifts will both require repair and renovation. He estimates that the process will take eight to 12 months before the ski area could once again welcome visitors.

The Board tabled its decision until the next hearing scheduled for July 26. Following that meeting the DRB has 45 days to render its decision, followed by a 30-day public appeals period.