Vermont officials allege entrepreneur Raj Bhakta violated Act 250 by pursuing unpermitted projects on the former Green Mountain College campus — a development that could potentially complicate his efforts to give the property away.
Bhakta bought the 115-acre campus in 2020, promising to convert it into a world-class resort destination that would remake the fortunes of the small Rutland County town of Poultney. But the project never launched. Bhakta failed to obtain Act 250 permits and didn’t attract investors for his ambitious, costly vision.
After years of sparring with town and state officials over the property’s assessment, in mid-February Bhakta made a surprise announcement that he intends to donate the campus to a Christian group, preferably Catholic, by late April. The deadline for groups to apply has since been extended indefinitely.
But on March 27, state officials slapped Bhakta and his development company, Regenerative Land Holdings, with a list of alleged violations on the campus: creating a private school; operating his Bhakta Spirits distilling, distribution and tasting business; and remodeling the historic house where the college president once lived, which became Bhakta’s home.
The notice, issued by Michaela Stickney, an enforcement officer with the state Land Use Review Board, gave Bhakta 10 days to dispute the allegations or, in the alternative, a May 31 deadline to submit a new Act 250 application. It is not immediately clear what impact, if any, the state’s action might have on Bhakta’s plan to dispose of the property quickly.
Bhakta’s spokesperson, Andrew Lohse, did not respond to calls about the state’s allegations. But Seven Days obtained a copy of a May 4 letter to the state board from Bhakta’s partner, Leo Gibson.
“You might be aware we are winding down operations on campus and are in the process of disposing of it, likely by gift, to a new owner who we hope will be able to bring the place back to life,” Gibson wrote. “Is it worth exploring some sort of consent agreement to address any material and ongoing alleged violations? Our concern is that an ongoing dispute with the state may impair the possibility of getting the campus into the hands of a new owner.”
Bhakta bought the campus at auction a year after the college shuttered in 2019 because of declining enrollment. The property is critically important to Poultney and its 3,000 residents. The campus dominates the town’s main street, and schools have operated there for 140 years. Its closure left a major gap in Poultney’s economic and cultural life.
The alleged violations could be resolved in several ways. Bhakta could file another Act 250 application. State officials could also issue a finding, which would allow Bhakta to request a hearing. Or Bhakta and state officials could agree on a settlement, as Gibson suggested.
The violations listed by state planners go back years. Bhakta, who has sparred with town and state lawyers for years in a bid to reduce the campus property assessment, could face hefty fines.
Bhakta announced in February that he wanted to give the campus to a Christian group, preferably Catholic, with a mission to revive the United States and Western Civilization through religious faith. Some in town worried that Bhakta wants the property to serve Christian Nationalism, which is aligned with President Donald Trump and his Make America Great Again movement.
That was far from what Bhakta vowed in 2020 after he snatched up the historic Vermont campus of stately red-brick Georgian-style buildings at auction for $4.5 million and immediately presented a grand vision to repurpose it. Promising economic revival and shared prosperity, he articulated a vision of world-class destination hotels, restaurants, luxury condos, a microdistillery with a tasting room and a trade school for the spirits industry.
The campus includes 22 buildings dating from 1855 to 1969: lecture halls, dormitories, a library, a pool, a gymnasium, an institutional kitchen, several single-family homes and a biomass-to-energy power plant.
Poultney Selectboard chair Sheryl Porrier did not return a call seeking comment for this story.
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