[P]ublic debate around the building of a four-story parking garage and a hotel in downtown Montpelier continues despite citizens overwhelmingly voting to approve a $10.5 million bond for the construction project two months ago.
The development project, a partnership between Capital Plaza hotel owner Fred Bashara and the city of Montpelier in which both get additional parking, has drawn nearly unanimous backing from downtown merchants. However, a group of citizens have vocally opposed the project, citing a number of safety and environmental concerns.
A petition is calling for a ballot item on Town Meeting Day on the development project and asking the city to meet certain demands in the construction process.
The petition asks that the Montpelier City Council withhold spending of the $10.5 million bond until there is planning for sufficient parking and transportation services to downtown during construction and that all walkways and bike paths will be safely clear of the construction zone, the Times Argus reported.
Other requests includes all documents being made public that regard contaminated soil remediation on the site public and that a public report projecting operating costs and revenues over the expected life of the garage be completed by an independent third party.
The petitioners expect to gather the required 622 signatures by the end of January to request the ballot question.
There are two other initiatives that residents have brought to city officials, including an appeal to the Development Review Board, and an environmental review under Act 250.
Bill Fraser, Montpelier city manager, said the city considers the petition to be non-binding but that the city has already done or is planning to do almost everything the petitioners ask.
Speaking two days after the Act 250 commission meeting on the garage project, Fraser said the city is doing all the environmental testing that is required and is not taking shortcuts to push the project forward.
“We know there is some contamination on site,” Fraser said. “We will be doing everything that is expected of us. We included a fair amount of money in the budget for this remediation process.”
Fraser also said all current Act 250 documents regarding the project are all available to the public.
Andrea Stander, who said she was speaking as a concerned citizen, said she philosophically objected to the garage because taxpayers would be funding a structure that would encourage travel to Montpelier that contributes to climate change.
“The creation of a structure to accommodate more cars in downtown Montpelier runs counter to everything I know about what will happen in the future,” she said.
Stander also said she does not believe the garage will accomplish what merchants claim it will do to address a parking problem downtown.
“As I’ve come to understand more about the project,” she said, “I’m not convinced that’s what it would do.”
Downtown business owners see the petitions and the other concerns over the project as nothing more than a tactic to stall the development and hamper the economy in Montpelier.
Yvonn Baab, the owner of Global Gifts, said the opposition to the garage and hotel is small but vocal and that the construction is vital for shop owners in Montpelier.
“If the hotel and garage are built it will have a positive impact on the downtown.There will be more visitors and more money,” Baab said. “It’s more about the positive impact as opposed to economic stagnation.”
Claire Benedict, co-owner of Bear Pond Books, said the project is vital for downtown merchants to continue to survive.
“I don’t think Montpelier has a good track record of supporting economic development and I think that is a symptom of that problem,” Benedict said. “I think a lot of people in Montpelier don’t understand what is needed for real economic opportunity here.”
Benedict also said the concerns were discussed in the two years of planning before the vote on the funding bond in November, and that many of the complaints have already been addressed in the plans.
But Montpelier resident Sandra Vitzthum disagrees with this presumption.
She said her concern is that the vote on the $10.5 million bond was rushed by the city and that the public did not have a clear idea of what they were voting for in November.
Vitzthum, who is part of the group of citizens that has deep concerns about the project, said she hopes the city will not “rush” projects through in the future.
She said her main issue is with the garage and not the hotel, which she says will be good for Montpelier. She is also concerned that emergency vehicle access has not been properly thought out, that there will be hazards on the bike path and that it is unclear if taxpayers will be left footing the bill if the bond does not provide enough funding.
Bashara, who owns the land where the parking garage would be, is donating the land to Montpelier so it can build the garage. He is planning to build a Hampton Inn along the river behind his existing hotel but has said he needs additional parking to do so, which is the reason he and the city have agreed to partner on the parking expansion.
To pay for the project, Montpelier will use funds created by the tax increment financing (TIF) district in the downtown core and on Barre Street — which the city gained approval for in September.
While most of the money for the project will come from permits and use fees at the parking garage, the TIF district designation allows the city to pool municipal taxes and 70 percent of the education fund taxes collected on the new hotel for the rest of the funding.
Of the bond funding, $9.2 million will be for the garage while $1.3 million is slated for infrastructure including sidewalks, a bike path, lighting and stormwater upgrades, according to city estimates.
Jess Turner, owner of Capital Kitchen, said Montpelier residents have historically struggled with commercial developments that threaten to change the city and that it’s understandable people are concerned about the parking garage.
He said the most important aspect of the project is not necessarily the garage, but the fact that without it the hotel will not be built.
“We need the hotel, and the reality of the project is that the hotel can’t happen without the parking garage,” Turner said. “All the focus is on the garage, but the garage is a necessary part of the hotel.”
“We live in an amazing quaint little downtown and the idea of changing it can be scary,” Turner said. “But it’s a city, not a museum piece that can stay static forever.”
