They haven’t applied for a permit yet, but last month they submitted a proposal — referred to as a sketch plan— to the Development Review Board for preliminary feedback. The DRB will discuss it on April 21.
The von Turkovich brothers are planning to build a three-story building to house people who work nearby — at the hospital or at the university. Apartments would be studios or would have one or two bedrooms, according to Frank von Turkovich. Asked if they are hoping to attract students, he responded, “Definitely not.”
This likely won’t come as news to the neighbors — the developers have been discussing the project with nearby residents for several years. “We’ve had extensive conversations with individual neighbors and the neighborhood groups, and we expect those discussions to continue,” von Turkovich noted.
At a February 11 neighborhood planning assembly meeting for Wards 1 and 8, several neighbors said they oppose the project. A resident of 25 years worried he would lose his view of the sunset. Susan and Robert Butani, whose Fletcher Place house would abut the new building, expressed concern about the size of the project.
Even so, von Turkovich seems optimistic. Neighbors, he said, “have been very helpful to us in coming up with a plan that we think is going to work for everyone.” If all goes well, they plan to break ground in 2016.
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Thanks to Mayor McBuildsAlot, I’m sure this development will have no problem being fast-tracked without considering neighbors or scale like the other ridiculous developments that have been jammed down Burlington’s collective throat.
I’m all for affordable developments, but based on the “absolutely not” comment regarding student housing, this sounds like more expensive and unaffordable apartments targeting the high-end market.
@ Mr. McComplainsAlot,
Guess you didn’t actually read the article before deciding to unburden yourself of your anti-developer hysteria, eh? “Fast tracked without considering neighbors”?
Here’s what the article says:
– the developers have been discussing the project with the neighbors for YEARS — before ever submitting it for preliminary review by the DRB;
– “We’ve had extensive conversations with individual neighbors and the neighborhood groups, and we expect those discussions to continue”;
– the project has already been the subject of at least one neighborhood planning assembly meeting in two wards; and
– “Neighbors, he said, ‘have been very helpful to us in coming up with a plan that we think is going to work for everyone.'”
So much for your accusation of “fast-tracking without considering neighbors.”
Guess you took Social Activism 101 but blew off Economics 101. There’s a housing crisis in Burlington — yes, literally, a crisis — and ANY additional housing units will help. Especially if they are NOT given over to students, despite your complaint to the contrary. And you assume these units will be “expensive and unaffordable” because they aren’t intended for students. Huh? What information do you have on that score? Did you even attend the neighborhood planning assembly meeting mentioned in the article?
What have you personally done to ease the housing crisis in Burlington? Have you built any housing units? Or do you just prefer to channel Fidel and Hugo from the sidelines?
To quote the band Supertramp, “crisis, what crisis??” Does anybody HAVE to live here? Must they assume we have housing, affordable or otherwise, for them?? NO and NO. They can just pick up their moving van and move to a million other available towns, cities and states. So glad to know that Mr. Knowyourassumptions is so concerned about whether people he will never meet get to find the perfect place to live here – while the rest of us have to put up with the ever-increasing bulls**t of the inherent traffic, noise and overcrowding evident here now.
@ Mr. Parker:
Were you born in the city of Burlington? Or, like so many NIMBYists, did you move to the city from some other place and then insist that absolutely no one else can do anything?
I’m no one’s conservative or shill. But it seems to me that the pressure from the housing market in the so-called East District can spill over to the Old North End where students (and single professionals that might make use of a studio apt) might be competing with the low-income folks for affordable housing. This can also be an unfair pressure on these folks to push them outa Burlington. I wonder how the elected councilors of the the ONE feel about rent pressure pushing out their constituents?
So it makes sense to me to responsibly develop housing in parts of Burlington that are already developed (like across from the hospital). The more we do that, maybe the less we end up developing undeveloped parts of Burlington. Like avoid repeating what’s happening to the parcels behind Burlington College.
what’s so McNasty about that?