Spectacular views of Lake Champlain, a short stroll to Church Street and little in the way of traffic or noise combine to make Lakeview Terrace one of Burlington’s most desirable residential streets. But it can also be one rough neighborhood — for developers.

The Committee on Temporary Shelter could soon find that out. COTS has scheduled a briefing for local residents on Thursday evening about its plans to open a daytime services facility for homeless Vermonters and to build up to 16 low-income housing units at a site steps from the southern end of Lakeview Terrace.

Neighbors will be holding their own meeting Wednesday evening to discuss the project and to prepare questions for COTS director Rita Markley. If past experience is a reliable guide, she can expect to encounter a certain skepticism — and possibly protracted opposition.

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Kevin J. Kelley is a contributing writer for Seven Days, Vermont Business Magazine and the daily Nation of Kenya.

8 replies on “COTS Plans Services and Housing Near Street with History of Fighting Development”

  1. Praise for Lakeview Terrace neighbors who take pride in good stewardship of their neighborhood. If all areas of the city did the same, what a beautiful city we would have. I recently toured areas of the city that look like we have no code enforcement at all!

  3. I don’t understand, COTS owns all this prime real estate with lake views, wouldn’t it be a better strategy to sell those lots and use the proceeds to build twice as much affordable housing somewhere else ? Or are the deeds encumbered?

  4. I want to clarify a few points in this story. When our Daystation flooded, insurance carriers told us they wouldn’t cover our return to a space that was on such a low grade given likelihood of future flooding. The City didn’t have any role in that determination.
    Also, we have been using the 95 North Avenue building for administrative offices and our homeless prevention and family services program for several years.
    And, finally, in response to a comment about prime real estate with lake views, the mortgage payment on this building is less expensive that what we were paying in rent for our administrative offices, family service and homeless prevention programs.
    We’re looking forward to sharing our plans and meeting with the neighbors on Thursday.

  5. “And, finally, in response to a comment about prime real estate with lake
    views, the mortgage payment on this building is less expensive that
    what we were paying in rent for our administrative offices, family
    service and homeless prevention programs.”
    I think perhaps you mistook the comment. It wasn’t a slight on COTS merely a question. The question being if it would better serve the community to sell the “prime real estate” and use the proceeds to buy something in a location that would not be “prime real estate” and therefore cheaper…
    Hypothetically , could COTS sell the prime real estate at Lakeview Terrace for lets say $1,000,000 and then buy twice the sq footage on pine st or somewhere on Intervale Ave… somewhere where property is cheaper…
    Also, it would allow the City to charge taxes on “prime real estate” that would be greater then say a building that doesn’t have lake views…

  7. Building low income housing, while an admirable undertaking, is clearly misguided on such prime real estate with lake views. For starters, the loss of tax revenue that could potentially be generated from higher end housing should not be ignored. It is tax revenue that keeps our schools operating and helps fund our City’s operations. Not to mention the tax rates are already a burden to most. Moreover, COTS could certainly afford more square footage in another location by selling this site to a developer as other posters have suggested. Also, what incentive do people have to lift themselves out of subsidized housing scenarios when the affordable housing is nicer than most properties in the City? A lack of affordable housing in Burlington is only a function of supply. Prices are high because we have a lack of housing at every price point.

  8. So your saying people with low-income don’t deserve lake views and to be close to services and jobs in the Burlington area? Not everyone has a car.

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