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BTV Mayor asks for Nov. vote on height rules

Burlington Free Press – 9.29.2016

One day before a council vote on guidelines that would shape any new development in the vicinity of Burlington Town Center, Mayor Miro Weinberger has asked that voters have say in the matter, in November.

The proposed zoning change, up for a City Council vote tonight, would include an elevated height cap of 160 feet, as well as mandate a reconnection of St. Paul and Pine streets, whose north-south progress is currently blocked by the two-story downtown mall.

In a posting on the city’s website Wednesday, Weinberger asked the council to approve the zoning amendment, as well as to place it on the Nov. 8 ballot — in part to avoid delays that might arise from a separate petition.

Meanwhile, Vermont law allows the Town Center’s owner and developer, Don Sinex, to proceed with a municipal review of his project, according to David E. White, the city’s director of Planning and Zoning.

Opponents of the zoning amendment have for months critiqued the amended regulation as one that would allow development that is out of scale and out of character with the rest of downtown.

Some of them, working as Coalition for a Livable City, have been collecting signatures to bring the issue to voters.

By bringing the issue to voters in November, Weinberger said, residents would be spared the expense of a separate election.

Piggybacking with the general election would also likely result in greater voter turnout, and help the city adhere to a timeline agreement the council reached with Sinex earlier this year.

The new zoning rules will affect the Lakeview Parking Garage (adjacent to Macy’s, to the west); the Marketplace Garage (north of the mall, abutting Cherry Street); and the College Street Garage (between the Hilton and People’s United Bank).

A map of downtown Burlington shows the area (shaded in red) proposed for special zoning. (photo credit: City of Burlington)
Earlier:

  • On Sept. 12, Councilors Sharon Bushor, I-Ward 1; Selene Colburn, P-Ward 2; and Sara Giannoni, P-Ward 3, voted against the zoning change. City Councilor Chip Mason, D-Ward 5, has recused himself from voting on the issue because his employer has ties to the development project.
  • On Monday, the council voted 10-1 to place on the November ballot a measure that would allow the city to finance road and other infrastructure improvements in the district. That ballot measure permits Burlington to repay those loans through anticipated increases in tax revenues within the district (a mechanism known as tax-increment financing, or TIF).
  • On Wednesday, Weinberger’s administration promoted the Sinex project as a significant factor in the city’s decision to advance plans for piping surplus heat downtown from the McNeil power plant.

Waste-heat proposal revived for Burlington

This story was first posted online on Sept. 29, 2016. Contact Joel Banner Baird at 802-660-1843 or joelbaird@freepressmedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @VTGoingUp

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