Burlington residents acknowledged the city’s housing shortage during a public hearing Tuesday evening, but expressed apprehension about two rezoning proposals intended to help solve it.
One proposal would allow the University of Vermont to build more residential buildings on its Trinity Campus.
The other would rezone part of the South End to permit housing in areas now zoned for light manufacturing and industrial uses.
The city planning commission, which is reviewing both proposals, held the public hearing.
UVM bought the former Catholic college on Colchester Avenue in 2002, and it is now occupied by academic, administrative and residential buildings. The proposed zoning changes would allow the university to build more residential buildings for undergraduate and graduate students at taller heights and closer to the road than the zoning now allows.
“New housing facilities would allow even more of our students to comfortably reside on campus, relieving some of the pressures on local communities and allowing us to continue to meet our commitment even with possible fluctuations in enrollment,” Lisa Kingsbury, associate director of planning at UVM, said at the public hearing on Tuesday. UVM also intends to improve walking and biking paths and minimize parking in that area.
Keith Pillsbury, a Burlington resident and former school board member, said he is “not usually a fan of UVM” because of the impact student populations have had on his neighborhood. But, Pillsbury said, he favors building more housing so it’s possible to “give a greater priority to Vermont workers who want to work in Burlington.”
However, other residents at the hearing voiced skepticism about whether the plan would address the city’s housing shortage.
Tom Derenthal, who lives one block away from Trinity Campus, said he was concerned that the rezoning would encourage UVM to expand its student body and ultimately exacerbate housing demand.
Some expressed concerns about potential environmental impacts.
Sharon Bushor, a former Ward 1 city councilor, proposed that UVM be allowed to build only on existing paved parking lots on the Trinity Campus and “let them (UVM) explore other options” that wouldn’t eliminate green space.
Mayor Miro Weinberger’s 10-point housing plan, which intends to double the rate of housing growth in the next five years and end chronic homelessness in Burlington, identified the Trinity Campus zoning project as a priority.
The South End proposal was prompted by Russ Scully, owner of the coworking space Hula, who submitted a proposal in 2021 to transform parking lots and other underutilized property into a “mixed-use hub of economic activity,” according to an overview provided by the planning commission.
That plan would permit the construction of new housing and, potentially, hotels.
Several residents voiced concerns about the environmental impact of additional housing in the South End — specifically, how housing near Lake Champlain could worsen drainage problems in an area that already has stormwater capacity issues.
South End resident Jason Van Driesche, however, suggested redevelopment could actually lead to better stormwater management. “It’s a real travesty that the giant parking lot across from the Innovation Center has remained 6 (acres) of asphalt for so, so long,” he said.
John Caulo — a South End resident who works in real estate project management and represents Hula — advocated for the plan at Tuesday’s hearing.
Caulo said the proposal “prioritizes the creation of new housing opportunities in a manner that supports the economic development goals of the district,” including adding roads, pedestrian pathways and bike lanes throughout the district.
Planning staff have recommended height restrictions of four stories, six stories or eight stories in different areas.
But others questioned whether allowing residential buildings up to eight stories tall is necessary, citing concern for how building heights could affect sight lines in surrounding neighborhoods.
Because technical difficulties prevented some people from participating in the virtual public hearing, the planning commission scheduled a second meeting for Dec.13. The commission could vote on the plans at that meeting, or it could decide to continue to review them.
If approved, the zoning proposals will go to the City Council for consideration, though Charles Dillard, Burlington’s principal planner, said in an email to VTDigger that “it’s difficult to predict how long City Council would spend with each amendment.”
Correction: An earlier version of this story mischaracterized Jason Van Driesche’s position on development of a site in Burlington’s South End.