[B]URLINGTON — An environmental court judge issued two orders Monday paving the way for the redevelopment of the Burlington Town Center mall.
The orders, issued by Judge Thomas Walsh, are predicated on a settlement between developer Don Sinex and a group of residents who had opposed the project.
Those orders bring to a close a pair of appeals by the residents.
“The settlement we reached improved the project, and I thank the appellants for their willingness to work with us to achieve it,” Sinex said in a statement issued Tuesday by his spokeswoman, attorney Liz Miller.
Sinex has said he expects demolition and reconstruction on the Church Street half of the mall, the portion being redeveloped, to begin in August or early fall. The project includes apartments, retail and offices in 600,000 square feet of space that’s expected to include three towers reaching 14 stories. That would make it Vermont’s tallest building.
Not all the residents who were party to the settlement knew Walsh had issued the orders. Steve Goodkind, who represented 54 fellow residents in the settlement negotiations, said he was under the impression that another hearing would be held on the matter.
At that hearing, Goodkind said, he believed residents who might not be on board with the settlement would be given the chance to make their voices heard to the judge.
“That’s contrary to how we told our people this was going to happen,” Goodkind said Tuesday. The judge “may have skipped that step, and I’m not happy about that.”
Goodkind’s attorney, John Franco, could not be reached for comment. His voicemail said he would return Thursday. An environmental court clerk said no hearing request was filed.
The settlement requires additional parking for the mixed-use development; prohibits Sinex from leasing apartments to a college or university as he had planned to do; requires Sinex to donate, rather than sell, land for reconnected city streets — saving the Burlington taxpayers as much as $2 million; and requires Sinex to put $500,000 in a charitable fund to support projects that preserve the downtown’s character.
It also restricts a potential second phase of the project, limiting it to 10 stories and requiring additional parking if it’s built.
“I think like all mediated settlements, it’s basically what you can live with,” Goodkind said, adding that he still believes 14 stories is too tall a building for downtown Burlington.
Despite being “demonized and vilified” for taking a stand, Goodkind said, he believes history will look favorably on the concessions that opponents of the project won.
