Two South Burlington city councilors held on to their seats in Tuesday’s Town Meeting Day election, despite a campaign to vote them out after their recent approval of contentious zoning regulations.
Councilors Meaghan Emery and Tim Barritt sailed to decisive victories, after facing blowback for their votes in early February to limit where and how development could occur in the city’s more sparsely populated southeast quadrant.
Emery defeated opponent Chris Trombly, chair of the city’s affordable housing committee, for a two-year seat with 69% of the vote. Barritt defeated Linda Bailey for a three-year seat with 71% of the vote.
The zoning regulations — which passed the council 3-2 — were seen by proponents as a way to maintain the city’s open space and scenic landmarks while pushing development more toward denser neighborhoods. Detractors said the measures would exacerbate the region’s severe housing crunch.
The debate added a highly charged dimension to both races, but especially the Emery-Trombly battle, where both candidates accused the other of permitting lies to spread about their policies and background.
In particular, Trombly zeroed in on the intervention of a political action committee that supported Emery and Barritt. The group — dubbed “Voices of the Environment” — spent more than $8,000 publicly defending the councilors’ votes on the zoning amendments, saying that they were necessary to preserve the ecology of South Burlington’s undeveloped areas.
Emery said she disavowed the group’s support and that she did not want political action committees wading into South Burlington politics.
The University of Vermont professor also blasted Trombly, a vice president of loan operations at People’s United Bank, for being under the influence of developers — a notion that he dismissed.
Along with the city, Emery and Barritt are both being sued by prominent local developer Jeff Davis for their “yes” votes on the zoning regulations. In launching the suit, Davis claims the City Council improperly took his land by preventing him from developing it as commercial property, rather than residential.
Clarification: The “Voices of the Environment” political action committee was formed prior to Emery’s and Barritt’s candidacies.
