[B]URLINGTON — A judge has allowed a lawsuit filed by CityPlace project opponents to move forward, potentially further delaying the start of construction of the stalled downtown development.
Judge Helen Toor ruled Wednesday against a motion filed by the developers to dismiss the lawsuit, which alleges the developers violated the terms of a settlement agreement with project opponents by changing plans on the amount of parking.
Brookfield Properties, the majority partner in the development, included the lawsuit on a list of “milestones” that had to be resolved before construction will re-start.
Will Voegele, the senior vice president for development of Brookfield Properties, said in May that he could not say whether construction would be able to resume without a resolution of the lawsuit.
Construction on the $220 million development project has been stalled since August, as construction re-start dates have come and gone without action. Brookfield has increased its involvement in the project, and Voegele said in May the company is working hard to move the project toward construction.
Voegele did not immediately respond to a request for comment, and Burlington Mayor Miro Weinberger was not immediately available.
Attorney John Franco and the project opponents he represents reached a settlement agreement with the developers in 2017, an agreement brokered by former Mayor Peter Clavelle. The current lawsuit alleges the developers did not live up to their side of that agreement.
Toor wrote that because the plaintiffs are seeking to enforce the settlement agreement, and are not challenging the zoning permit, the lawsuit can move forward.
“The court cannot determine from the pleadings exactly what the Plaintiffs say violates the agreement, but they state a sufficient claim under Vermont’s generous pleading standards,” Toor wrote.
Franco said the decision means that the developers now have to engage with the plaintiff’s claims, and that he did not know how long the lawsuit would take to be resolved.
“Our opposition is based on the scale of this project, and we’re saying the scale of the project is too big for the city,” Franco said “The currency that was being litigated was the parking impact.”
A similar federal lawsuit filed by Franco alleging that the city had not properly informed his clients of changes to the project was dismissed in December.
Brookfield is currently evaluating and refining the project’s design and working with the Bank of the Ozarks to finalize loan documents, Voegele said in May.
Franco said the results of those processes would play a big role in what happens in the lawsuit.
“If there is a major change in this project, that’s going to really change the complexion of this lawsuit altogether, frankly,” he said.
