Monday, February 13, 2017
The Champlain Valley Office of Economic Opportunity would operate the “sober house” facility for at least 13 people at the Stone House on North Avenue. The building has been empty since February 2016, when the city took ownership as Burlington College struggled to stay afloat.
The college shut down for good months later and “the building was abandoned and subject to vandalism, break-ins and trespassing during the early summer of 2016,” according to a memo on the proposal that’s been submitted to the Burlington Board of Finance and City Council.
The city would give CVOEO use of the space for free under a proposed two-year lease. The Board of Finance was scheduled to discuss the proposal Monday evening at a meeting that has since been canceled and rescheduled for February 27. The plan would also require approval from the city council and zoning permits from the Development Review Board.
Tags: Jan Demers , Jesse Bridges , Marcy Esbjerg , CVOEO , housing , Burlington College , Image , Web Only
Wednesday, February 8, 2017
The Greater Burlington YMCA said it could no longer sustain annual losses generated by the Winooski facility, located in the O’Brien Community Center. It will close on June 30 when its lease expires.
“This is not a decision that we reached easily,” Greater Burlington YMCA president and CEO Kyle Dodson said. “Several youth and community activities introduced at the Winooski Y did not gain the intended traction. While the Winooski Y has functioned as a fitness center, the facility was never able to attract the number of members necessary to make that operation self-sustaining. Year in and year out, the Winooski Y has lost tens of
thousands of dollars.”
Winooski Y members will be allowed to use the Burlington facility.
Tags: Greater Burlington YMCA , Winooski , Burlington , Kyle Dodson , Image , Web Only
Friday, February 3, 2017
At a board of trustees meeting on Friday, UVM representatives unveiled the proposed multipurpose center, which would be five times larger than the existing facilities. The plan includes a complete reconstruction of Patrick Gymnasium, as well as additions and renovations to the Gutterson Fieldhouse hockey arena. The completed 86,000-square-foot complex would include a fitness center, social space for students, academic classrooms, and practice and game facilities.
The plan comes after the university for at least a year entertained siting proposals from local municipalities. UVM considered using the Memorial Auditorium lot for an arena in downtown Burlington and also investigated the space where University Mall currently stands in South Burlington.
Tags: University of Vermont , arena , Memorial Auditorium , Jeff Schulman , Miro Weinberger , Tom Gustafson , Image , Web Only
Thursday, February 2, 2017
That comes after both Burlington and South Burlington officials spent at least a year wooing the university to partner with them on competing visions for an off-campus facility.
Now the courtship seems to be over.
"While a final decision has not been made on the municipal facility options the university has been exploring with Burlington and South Burlington, the On-Campus Multipurpose Center appears to be the option that is most financially and programmatically feasible, and the one that best meets the broad array of campus needs for health and wellness, recreation, large campus events, and intercollegiate athletics," said a UVM statement released Thursday.
The proposed facility would be located on the athletic campus.
UVM officials would offer few other details after putting out a statement Thursday. The cost, renderings and scope of the project will be unveiled at an 11:30 a.m. presentation to trustees Friday.
Tags: University of Vermont , arena , Memorial Auditorium , Miro Weinberger , Kevin Dorn , Image , Web Only
The seven-story hotel, which would sit across from the Winooski traffic circle on Winooski Falls Way, is being opposed on two fronts.
Last week, neighboring property owners that are part of the Winooski Downtown Redevelopment Association filed a lawsuit in Vermont Superior Court to stop the hotel.
Then on Monday, the group convinced a regional environmental commission to hold off on hotel permit review until the court battle is resolved.
Tags: Winooski , downtowns , parking , hotel , Chris Nordle , Adam Dubroff , Image , Web Only
Monday, January 30, 2017
Virginia-based czb LLC, the urban planning consulting firm tasked with creating the 35-page report, will present its findings at 6 p.m. in City Hall during a meeting of the city council’s Community Development and Neighborhood Revitalization committee.
The takeaways of the document, which was released January 16: Development has not kept pace with city growth, pushing housing into the suburbs while city residences remain unaffordable. Some 58 percent of Burlington residents pay more than 30 percent of their income — the target threshold — on housing. Meanwhile, a third pay more than 50 percent. Costs end up disproportionately burdening developers and the affordable housing sector.
But the policy itself has worked well to create economically integrated housing, according to the report prepared by czb. “There is much to be proud of,” the group concludes in its assessment.
Tags: Inclusionary zoning , Adam Roof , Selene Colburn , Michael Monte , Tom Ayres , affordable housing , czb , Image , Web Only
Tuesday, January 24, 2017
“The airport will continue to administer the program until we bring it to an end,” Richards told Seven Days Tuesday.
The resolution does little more than create anxiety for neighbors who want to sell, he added.
“We’ve had people crying and we’ve had people really stressed out about this,” Richards said. “It’s unfortunate.”
Tags: Burlington International Airport , F-35 , noise , South Burlington , Gene Richards , Image , Web Only
The majority of business owners, residents and councilors who testified at the meeting praised a scaled-back plan from New Moran, Inc. Tad Cooke, Erick Crockenberg and Charlie Tipper hope to break ground on the $15.4 million project by the end of 2017. A previous iteration from the same trio had a price tag of $34 million.
First, the group must get approval from the city. The Community and Economic Development Office will spend the next three months reviewing the plan.
Tags: Moran Plant , Noelle MacKay , New Moran , Inc. , Tad Cooke , Erick Crockenberg , Charlie Tipper , Image , Web Only
Monday, January 23, 2017
Earlier this month, the council solicited help from Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.) to put pressure on the Federal Aviation Administration. They want the FAA to run and pay for a noise study this year to predict what the sound levels will be like upon the arrival of the F-35s in 2019.
The council has also crafted a resolution to be voted on Monday night that will be delivered to the FAA with a long list of requests. Councilors want buyouts halted immediately. They want advance warning of noise mitigation studies that will affect the city. And they want to allow a cluster of already bought-out homes on Lily Lane to be transferred to Champlain Housing Trust.
Tags: South Burlington City Council , Meaghan Emery , Helen Riehle , Champlain Housing Trust , Kevin Dorn , Senator , Patrick Leahy , FAA , airport buyouts , Gene Richards , Image , Web Only
Wednesday, January 18, 2017
In the days leading up to the vote, residents participated in a flurry of debate about the rules online. And then voters rejected the new zoning 493-485 in a special election. The vote means that the rules, which the selectboard adopted in November, are voided and the town reverts back to its former zoning regulations.
That’s a good thing, according to critics of the changes who saw them as nanny-type meddling with land use.
“I don’t like people telling me I can’t have a clothesline, that sort of thing,” said Patrick McCarthy, who said he voted no. He said he also worried that the zoning would make the town less affordable for newcomers and stifle developments such as senior housing.
Tags: Jericho , zoning , Catherine McMains , Dollar General , Image , Web Only