Thursday, July 11, 2019
Opponents of a redesign to Burlington's City Hall Park were dealt a blow the day after the city closed the park for construction.
A Vermont Superior Court judge ruled Thursday morning that the project — including tree removal — can proceed despite a lingering legal question over whether the city’s zoning permit for the project is expired.
Members of Keep the Park Green, a coalition opposed to the redesign’s tree plan, argued that the permit itself says it becomes invalid unless “work or action authorized by the permit” started by March 22, 2019. Fencing only went up on Wednesday.
The group asked for a hearing on the matter before tree removal and other demolition could proceed, but Judge Helen Toor ruled against them in a one-page order Thursday morning.
“The court has already ruled that the replacement of older trees with younger ones, and the plaintiffs’ sadness at seeing the changes in the park, do not meet the definition of irreparable harm,” Toor wrote.
Tags: Burlington , City Hall Park , Keep the Park Green , Donna Walters , trees , Web Only , Image
Wednesday, July 10, 2019
Crews erected a chain link fence around the perimeter to secure the site for a redevelopment project that is expected to last until next fall. Plans call for realigned pathways, a new fountain, rain gardens, 1,500 perennial plants and grasses, and extra seating.
“Our park will get so much more use,” said Cindi Wight, director of the Burlington Parks, Recreation & Waterfront Department. “It will be a welcoming place.”
As soon as next week, the city will begin removing benches and trash cans and remediating compacted soils, Wight said.
That’s concerning to Jimmy Leas, a South Burlington attorney representing a group of citizens who sued the city in March over the project's financing and other issues. On Monday, Leas filed an amended complaint that alleges the city’s own zoning permit for the renovation has expired.
He pointed to the Development Review Board’s stipulation that the permit would become invalid unless “work or action authorized by the permit” started by March 22, 2019.
Tags: Burlington , City Hall Park , Keep the Park Green , Cindi Wight , Web Only , Image
Friday, July 5, 2019
South Burlington is seeking federal funds to build a pedestrian bridge across Interstate 89 near busy exit 14 in order to ease commuting hazards. The plan nudged out a Vermont-y option of installing gondolas to ferry people over the busy highway interchange at Route 2, also known as Williston Road.
The $14 million bridge would be erected over the highway from the backside of University Mall to land near the parking lot at Staples Plaza. Ramps on both ends would bring the span close to the busy commuting corridor along Route 2, which connects Burlington and South Burlington.
The new bridge would be near the existing Route 2 bridge that ferries vehicles over the interstate. People walking or cycling across that span must cross heavy traffic where cars exit and enter the interstate, creating a hazard.
The city council voted to move forward with the grant application last month after a series of public meetings and consideration of various options.
Tags: Cycling , South Burlington , Burlington , pedestrian bridge , Web Only , Image , Video
Wednesday, June 19, 2019
Members of the city council in neighboring South Burlington are steamed about the vote, which will allow Burton Snowboards to move forward with a plan to host music venue Higher Ground at its Industrial Parkway campus.
In a strongly worded email Tuesday morning, South Burlington City Council vice chair Meaghan Emery chastised all 12 Burlington councilors for not involving their neighbors in the discussion. She explained that SoBu leaders, busy with various projects, hadn’t learned of the plan until last week. At that point, Emery and a colleague emailed her Burlington counterparts, while SoBu council chair Helen Riehle contacted Burlington Mayor Miro Weinberger’s office on Monday to voice her concern, according to Emery.
Tags: Burton Snowboards , South Burlington , Higher Ground , venue , Justin Worthley , Meaghan Emery , Kurt Wright , city council , Web Only , Image
Monday, May 20, 2019
It will have showers, public bathrooms, and a store, and will add boat slips to a waterfront where they are in short supply. The facility will entice more of the boaters who visit the area to stick around, said Burlington Harbor Marina co-owner and codeveloper Jack Wallace.
"There's a lot of boaters from Canada that cruise the lake," Wallace said at the site on Friday, as a crane lifted sections of floating dock into place.
The Lake Champlain marina is near the U.S. Coast Guard Station and the Burlington fishing pier. About 60 slips will be available for "transient" boaters who want to drop by for a day or a weekend. Of the remaining 100 slips, about 70 are booked for the season, which will run roughly from mid-May to mid-October.
Tags: Burlington Harbor Marina , Burlington , Lake Champlain , boating , Web Only , Image
Thursday, May 9, 2019
A 4-1 vote Thursday by the Vermont Advisory Council on Historic Preservation likely means a development planned for the property will be reevaluated, according to an architect on the project. Owner Jeff Mongeon wants to demolish the circa 1803 building to make way for a 75-unit apartment building.
About 20 people attended the meeting in Montpelier, almost all of whom urged the council to keep the Main Street house listed on the register.
Tags: the mansion , Winooski , Vermont Register of Historic Places , historic preservation , Web Only , Image
Tuesday, May 7, 2019
The designation could slow or block a proposal to tear down the early 19th-century home on Main Street and replace it with a four-story, 75-unit apartment building.
The Vermont Advisory Council on Historic Preservation will hold a special meeting at 10 a.m. Thursday to consider the delisting question.
The fate of the white house for which Mansion Street was named has captured local attention since news broke last month that it could be torn down.
Tags: Mansion House , Winooski , development , Jeff Mongeon , Devin Colman , Francis Childs , Henry Oakely , Web Only , Image
Monday, May 6, 2019
Hospitality Funding, under the business name Hotel Y Burlington, is planning a six-story, 142-room Cambria hotel, one of 10 brands owned by Choice Hotels. The company also operates Comfort Inn, Clarion, Econo Lodge and others, according to its website.
But Hospitality Funding's chairman and CEO has Queen City ties, according to Nicole Ravlin, a spokesperson for the hotel. Scott Silver attended the University of Vermont as an undergrad, and his son lives in BTV, she said. Silver will serve as the Burlington project's managing partner.
“Vermont is kind of his home away from home, and this is why he was interested in doing something with the community here,” Ravlin said.
Tags: Burlington , YMCA , development , Cambria Hotels , Scott Silver , Cleary Buckley , Smith Buckley Architects , Web Only , Image
Monday, April 29, 2019
City councilors had hoped to get answers from Mayor Miro Weinberger and Burlington Police Chief Brandon del Pozo about their intervention efforts but heard more of the same during the discussion hosted in a packed City Hall conference room.
“The chief and I have been questioned again and again by members of the media … about the actions that took place here. We have shared as much as we can about that,” Weinberger said. “The attorney general does not want the facts of the case discussed any further.”
Tags: Burlington , CityPlace , Douglas Kilburn , Burlington City Council , Brandon del Pozo , Web Only , Image
Thursday, March 28, 2019
Wayne Senville, who has publicly voiced opposition to the park project, filed a complaint with the city attorney's office on Tuesday, saying that documents related to the project weren't available in time for members of the public to read and respond to them.
Under state law, the city has 10 days to respond to the complaint, according to City Council President Kurt Wright (R-Ward 4), so the council will hold a special meeting on Friday at 1 p.m. to vote on whether a violation occurred.
If councilors decide they did violate the law, they'd have to revote on appropriating money for the City Hall Park project. If the council rejects the complaint by voting that it followed proper procedure, Senville can file a suit in court.
City attorneys are sure that the city did not violate open meeting law and Monday's decision should stand, according to Wright. “We believe, according to our legal advice, we’re on very, very solid ground," he said. "We feel pretty strongly this is a frivolous complaint."
Tags: City Hall Park , Wayne Senville , Kurt Wright , Miro Weinberger , Web Only , Image