Edson Hill neighbors appeal Lemelson development decision

Stackpole & French represents Five Roads Stowe LLC, the corporate entity that has bought over 200 acres of property on Edson Hill, including the former Stowehof Inn, within the last three years. In August, reporting by the Stowe Reporter tied the corporation to Franz Burkard, the wealthy heir to a Swiss industrial fortune.

Joining Burkard in the appeal are two more corporations managed by Stackpole & French — Boulder Springs Farm LLC and PBF LLC — whose true owners are not attached to their approximately 40-acre properties. Kevin D’Arcy, a real estate broker with Spruce Peak Realty who owns 4 acres on Edson Hill, has also joined the appeal and is represented by the law firm.

In its appeal, the Lemelson’s neighbors are asking the court to review nearly every aspect of the development review board’s decision, including allowance for a new water and wastewater permit for the subdivided property, letting a private chapel Lemelson built be designated a primary building on one of the new lots and the subdivision itself.

Stackpole & French lawyer Ed French argued against Lemelson’s subdivision at an initial development review board hearing in July by saying that his proposed lots, approximately 10 acres in size, were inconsistent with the “large estate lots” in the area and the subdivision would “negatively affect the area.”

In court filings, the law firm questioned whether the board had adequately followed state and town zoning regulations regarding the impact of subdivision’s potential impact on the views from Edson Hill Road and the character of the area.

In general, Vermont lawmakers have been making it more difficult to object to housing based on an area’s character. Act 47, or the Housing Opportunities Made for Everyone Act, passed at the end of the last legislative session, says character cannot be considered when it comes to affordable housing and “the character of the area cannot be appealed in decisions on certain types of housing,” though other elements may be appealed.

In its appeal, Stackpole & French continued to raise questions around the appropriateness of Lemelson’s Orthodox chapel, which was previously approved by the development review board and whose members were uninterested in relitigating the matter.

In questions submitted to the court, the Edson Hill neighbors petitioned the court to decide whether the board erred in determining that the chapel met specific setback and visibility regulations. They also asked the court to determine whether the board erred when it approved the establishment of the church as the principal structure on a lot that Lemelson plans to build a five-bedroom house.

Lemelson has said his private St. Katherine Orthodox Chapel is the only purpose-built Byzantine-style Orthodox Christian church in Vermont and that it was built specifically to adhere to the aesthetics of Stowe’s architectural vernacular.

“We hired one of the foremost experts in Byzantine ecclesiastical architecture but provided a mandate that the chapel should look like it ‘belongs in the place where it exists’ — that it be germane to the place where it exists,” Lemelson wrote in an email.

“As the record shows, Mr. French and his clients repeatedly attacked the chapel and its appearance during the hearing — though the exhibits clearly show that it cannot even be seen from the street — I cannot recall, before that time, anyone ever berating the chapel or its appearance,” Lemelson also wrote.

French did not respond to a request for comment.

This appeal is not the only legal fight Lemelson is currently involved with. An ordained Orthodox priest, Lemelson is also chief investment officer for Lemelson Capital Management, which manages The Amvona Fund.

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission sued him in 2018 for allegedly shorting and then manipulating the stock priced San Diego-based Ligand Pharmaceuticals after he criticized their hepatitis-C drug Promacta in a radio interview and made over a million dollars after its stock fell, according to Reuters.

A jury concluded in 2021 that although Lemelson made a misleading statement about Promacta, he was not liable for securities fraud. A U.S. district judge in Boston ordered him to pay a $160,000 fine and imposed a five-year injunction on committing further securities violations.

In August, Lemelson teamed up with the New Civil Liberties Alliance and petitioned the U.S. Supreme Court to argue that the statements he made about the drug constituted free speech.

This article was updated on 11/2/2023 to clarify that Lemelson is an ordained Orthodox priest, who was found to have made a misleading statement but not liable for fraud.