As they passed a series of bipartisan initiatives Monday night aimed at eliminating homelessness, Burlington city councilors demonstrated an appetite for working together — at least to a certain extent — on an issue that residents say is a top concern.
In a shift from its clashes over the topic late last year, the 12-member body unanimously signed off on four initiatives Democratic Mayor Miro Weinberger proposed as part of his “plan to end homelessness.”
The initiatives rely on nearly $3 million in federal American Rescue Plan Act funds, which would be paid out over a three-year period.
Three of the items came directly off the mayor’s list, such as the hiring of a city employee who would oversee the city’s efforts to end homelessness. The council also directed almost $1.5 million to establish a community of “emergency shelter pods” in which people experiencing homelessness could stay next winter and $250,000 to a regional network that seeks to find housing for those who need it.
Though not included in the mayor’s original plan, the council allocated roughly $1 million to developing the city’s “Community Resource Center” — a seasonal day shelter located at Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 782 — for year-round use.
In addition to the American Rescue Plan Act expenditures, the council also voted to endorse the city’s existing policy for sheltering on public land, which — though it was instituted as the result of a 2019 legal settlement — had not been endorsed by the council.
In addition, councilors sent a proposed ordinance expanding and codifying that policy to the body’s Community Development and Neighborhood Revitalization committee and asked City Attorney Dan Richardson to study its possible impacts
The sheltering policy instructs city officials to only remove people who camp on city land in certain situations, and — if they do remove them — to offer them certain services, such as storing their belongings.
The seven-page proposed ordinance — introduced by Councilor Joe Magee, P-Ward 3 — would strengthen that policy, obligating the city to aid those who shelter on its land. While not every piece of public land would be cleared to camp on, the ordinance would require officials to pay for a camper to move elsewhere if the city broke up an encampment in the winter and the camper could not get state-funded housing.
Weinberger and some more moderate councilors expressed reservations about Magee’s proposal but backed the idea of sending it to the committee level for more discussion and community feedback. They also stood behind the city’s sheltering policy as written.
Yet that full-throated approval of the sheltering policy belied a lingering division between Progressives and the rest of the council over last year’s removal of the Sears Lane encampment, which officials said was necessary for the safety of its residents.
Magee launched their effort to cement the policy as an ordinance after city officials argued that they were not obligated to follow it while clearing out Sears Lane. That assertion, part of the city’s defense against a lawsuit brought by two Sears Lane campers, was upheld by a superior court judge.
City officials still insist that, even if they did not need to, they followed the sheltering policy while disbanding Sears Lane. But Progressives contest that, saying campers should not have been forced to leave in the first place.
Other business
In other business Monday night, councilors:
- Rejected a proposed redistricting map for how the city’s seats in the state House of Representatives would be apportioned.
The map, drawn by a state board, would continue to split the city into some precincts represented by two legislators and some represented by a single legislator, a concept that did not sit well with councilors. Instead, they preferred either a map of only single-member districts or only multimember ones.
While the councilors’ vote is not binding, it serves as a recommendation to the House Committee on Government Operations, which spearheads the chamber’s redistricting.
Councilors plan to hold another meeting next week to endorse a specific map before Feb. 15, their deadline to respond to the House committee.
- Held a public hearing on a proposed ordinance regulating short-term rentals, the type of accommodation facilitated by sites such as Airbnb.
If the ordinance passes, a short-term rental could only be operated in the primary residence of its owner — a stricter regulation than previous proposals discussed by the council.
The council gave the ordinance initial approval at its Dec. 20 meeting and plans to hold a final vote on the regulations at its Feb. 22 meeting. - Received a briefing from Richardson, the city attorney, on how the council could limit disruptive behavior during its meetings. The effort to cut down on interruptions followed a string of meetings over the second half of 2021 during which unruly attendees almost brought the council’s deliberations to a halt.
