The former Burlington College land, which borders Lake Champlain, has been the subject of a contentious debate about conservation since the cash-strapped school sold it. Last December, city officials reached an agreement with Farrell to preserve nearly half the land. The remainder is expected to host a housing development with roughly 700 units.
Calling Thursday’s acquisition a “very critical milestone,” Mayor Miro Weinberger also acknowledged that it won’t be final until the city approves several zoning changes requested by Farrell.
Paving the way for the deal, the city council voted on Tuesday to use $500,000 from the city’s Conservation Legacy Fund for the purchase. The Vermont Land Trust secured a loan to cover the rest.
Land Trust president Gil Livingston said Friday that the trust plans to repay that loan through a Vermont Housing & Conservation Board grant of roughly $400,000, a federal grant of at least $100,000 and philanthropic contributions. The city has also agreed to pitch in up to an additional $500,000 from the Conservation Legacy Fund, a possibility the mayor said was likely.
The people responsible for the deal remain adamant that it’s a triumph for the city — protecting open space that was previously privately owned, while also allowing much-needed housing. However, some people remain highly critical of the deal, arguing that a 12-acre park is no replacement for the current “urban wild” that exists on the property.
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The so-called “12 acre park”, who’s actual size seems inflated, being puchased is almost entirely undevelopable. It is steep sloped, highly erodible, fragmented, has the bike path easement running through it, and is zoned for conservation. There is next to zero chance that any developer could build on this land, especially with Act 250 and the Shoreline Protection Act, not to mention local zoning.
Plus, with so many units being constructed on the other portion, this open land will function as a “back yard” to the 1500 or more residents who will live on it, and trample it. And to ask for zoning changes in order to build the 5-storey structures even larger and taller, is an an affront to this sensitive land.
That VT Land Trust is associated with this debacle is the biggest tragedy. Their mission is to preserve sensitive land and open space, not degrade it. They could have refused to be a part of this. And the City of Burlington is using taxpayer money to essentially bail out a developer, who is builing the maximum number of units, anyway.
The whole project is contrived and insincere. Shame on all the parties involved.
I bike through the land on a regular basis, I want to let people know that before this deal was closed that a logging crew went through and cleared the woods of trees and shrubs less than a few inches in diameter. From my observations, the ground has been very wet after the removal of the trees and shrubs. Makes me wonder why they were removed to begin with???
The developer will be getting $2 million to cede space that will significantly be used as the legally required storm water mitigation area for the roofs, driveways, parking lots, and roads on the largest project in Burlington’s history, immediately uphill from the “park” and the lake shore. On this “urban wild” will be permitted retaining ponds–likely fenced–a pumping station, piping, electric lines, and tree cutting to serve the developer. 1500 people will live on the project and use it as open recreational and gardening space. Surely a good, but one provided at the public expense to add retail value to a particular private developer’s project. Yes, there will be 160 units of affordable housing under the IZ ordinance, but built on and by the nonprofit, Champlain Housing Trust, not the developer. Yet the developer will “earn” the IZ credits needed for this he needs for his C of O. Yes, the city retains a strip of green along the shore, connecting the Urban Reserve to public parcels to the north. But it is a narrow strip, neither an effective wildlife habitat nor a significant addition to the public parkland. And given lake setbacks and steep slope setbacks, much is un-developable to begin with.
All in all, the developer gets cash and a substantial addition to the utility and sale value of his property at public expense. And the public loses one of the last significant pieces of viewscape, wildlife habitat, and recreational land along the lake which for 100 years was exempt from any local property taxes. .But so as to create a public interest in the City’s view.
This deal was packaged as a half-million dollar public cost. Now the mayor, with the connivance of the VLT, is doubling that. So it goes in Burlington.
Charles S. .
Weinberger’s brand of development for campaign contributions stinks.
A natural treasure will be destroyed, the neighborhood will be overwhelmed by this monstrous development, the taxpayers are funding a bogus “park”… so that rather a triumph for the city, it is a tragedy.
This is the first time I’ve ever questioned Miro Weinberger’s intentions, I’m a major supporter and big fan. It seems that taxpayer money has been completely wasted to purchase land that would never have been developed anyway. It makes me wonder what magic Eric Farrell has been using to get officials to write out large checks while giving him largesse in zoning changes. Maybe we can convince him to share some of the magic?
Edward O. Wilson, said “Man is defined not by what he creates, but by what he chooses not to destroy.”
For whom is this deal the best? Not the citizens.