BURLINGTON — In a rebuke of the University of Vermont, the Burlington City Council declined to advance proposed zoning changes to the school’s Trinity campus on Tuesday night.
Councilors chided administrators for not committing to address increasing enrollment, which they argue has contributed to the housing crisis the city faces.
“We think you need to come to the table with more information and some guarantees,” said Councilor Zoraya Hightower, P-Ward 1. Hightower, who represents the ward in which the Trinity campus is located, said she was in favor of the proposed zoning changes “in theory” but that other concerns made her want to put off the request. Most other councilors agreed.
Burlington Planning Director Meagan Tuttle and UVM administrators presented a plan to revise zoning rules at UVM’s Trinity campus that would allow for higher, denser developments. The Colchester Avenue campus is the former home of Trinity College, which closed in 2000 and was purchased by the university in 2002.
The proposal was on the agenda as a first reading, meaning the council was debating whether to refer it to another committee for further consideration. But after some tough questions directed at Richard Cate, UVM’s vice president for finance and administration, the proposal was tabled in a vote of 9-1 with one absence. Ali Dieng, I-Ward 7, was the sole “no” vote.
With many of their questions, councilors sought to get Cate to offer assurances that more student housing would not lead to more students. Councilors argued that UVM’s rising enrollment has contributed to the city’s housing crisis.
Councilor Sarah Carpenter, D-Ward 4, said the enrollment question was the “elephant in the room.”
“We just have to have some of that information and understand how your enrollment is going to relate to units that you have some control over,” Carpenter said.
In response, Cate said UVM President Suresh Garimella “has been very clear to not increase the size of incoming classes.”
“We want to be sure that our students have proper housing and we want to keep the pace as we go along so basically it’s a net neutral impact,” Cate said.
Councilor Gene Bergman, P-Ward 2, noted he was a UVM student in the early 1970s.
“We have had a problem with UVM not housing its students since then,” Bergman said. He also went on to tell Cate that “you have to do better.”
While Cate said that UVM is “very clearly a piece” of the housing crunch in the city, he said that Garimella doesn’t speak about enrollment beyond a short time period.
Councilor Joan Shannon, D-South District, also pressed Cate, asking why there is no development agreement between the city and the university. The two entities previously had an agreement from 2009 until 2019.
Cate said that agreement, a memorandum of understanding, was “not renewed” at the direction of the UVM Board of Trustees. He said that one of the commitments that Burlington made in that agreement was a Trinity campus zoning change but that it hadn’t happened.
Mayor Miro Weinberger asked Cate about that assertion.
“Are you suggesting that one of the reasons the board isn’t comfortable with agreeing with a continuation of the agreement that we’ve had … is because of a dissatisfaction on the board’s part about how the city has moved forward with rezoning the Trinity campus?” Weinberger asked.
“It is one factor,” Cate said. “The fact that it has not moved forward.” Cate went on to say that UVM had raised the Trinity issue “under different administrations.”
“All right, well, this administration’s been going on a surprisingly long period of time at this point,” Weinberger said.
Following Weinberger’s questioning, Shannon jumped back in before making the motion to table the discussion.
“It has become even more clear at this moment that there needs to be discussion at the executive level to resolve issues that can’t be resolved by an ordinance committee,” Shannon said.
Following the vote, Council President Karen Paul, D-Ward 6, sought to offer encouragement to the UVM administrators.
“There is a strong desire to work with you to find solutions” on addressing housing, Paul said.
