Alan Luzzatto has long opposed any development on a corner of Wheeler Nature Park in South Burlington. For the last five years, he has met with neighbors, signed petitions and tried to speak with the developer to suggest alternatives.
He was also one of the residents within 750 feet of the blasting area to receive a pre-blasting inspection notice from a survey company hired by Maine Drilling & Blasting that is expected to work on the parcel. Blasting is supposed to begin in November and expected to last through January.
“I never understood how a development could be built upon a legally standing nature park,” he said.
Neighbors have for years opposed a plan by owner JAM Golf LLC and BlackRock Construction to build a 32-unit mixed housing project with roadway and utility access on an undeveloped 6.9-acre parcel at the intersection of Dorset Street and Park Road in South Burlington. The site is directly adjacent to the 110-acre Wheeler Nature Park — widely considered a local treasure for its sweeping views of the Green Mountains.
The recent blasting notices to build on undeveloped land that has bedrock signal an end to the yearslong fight. No work permits have been pulled yet for any site work to take place at 550 Park Road, according to city officials. Ben Avery, vice president of development at BlackRock, declined to comment.
Although the Wheeler Nature Park was purchased and preserved in perpetuity for light recreation by the city more than 35 years ago, the 6.9-acre parcel was created as part of a settlement with JAM Golf in 2015 and is now privately owned, city documents note.
BlackRock Construction won development review board approval to build on the land in 2021 and cleared the state’s Act 250 permit in July 2022, but the permit was soon appealed by a group of 125 neighbors and the Neighbors Committee to Stop Neighborhood Blasting.
The case has lagged through the courts since, until June, when the Vermont Supreme Court dismissed the latest arguments opposing the housing project. More than 500 residents then signed a petition calling on the City Council to buy back the parcel or encourage landowner JAM Golf to donate it back to the city.
“While I am a fervent advocate for conservation, after this almost two decade process, there is nothing that the City can plausibly do at this point to halt that development,” City Councilor Andrew Chalnick wrote in an Oct. 19 email to petitioners.
“We are keenly aware that many people are paying close attention to the plan for development of this neighborhood and that a petition was submitted to the City Council to seek alternatives,” Planning and Zoning Director Paul Connor said.
He added that the city has been committed to being “even-handed and transparent” throughout the project.
“As the approved 32-home neighborhood at 550 Park Road moves towards its construction phase, we will continue to do the same,” he said.
City Council members did not respond to a request for comment, but neighbors are making a last ditch effort to stop shovels from going into the ground.
There are very few places like the nature park in the city, said Rose Goddard, who lives less than a mile away from the slated development.
“I call it the crown jewel of South Burlington,” she said.
The South Burlington Land Trust’s board voted unanimously to support the petition, according to board President Rosanne Greco.
“It is an open land that ought to be preserved because of its natural resources, fertile soils, wildlife habitat,” she said. “… I think we need it in our lives.”
The development, according to Greco, a former city councilor, will almost certainly adversely affect the groundwater and soil at the Wheeler homestead nearby that features a historic home with master gardens, community garden plots, walking trails and a dog park.
“There are so many reasons not to destroy natural open spaces like this that it almost doesn’t need explanation. But of course it does because most people don’t think this way,” she said.
Goddard said she voted years ago for the city to keep the parcel as part of the nature park instead of the land swap that eventually took place and has paved the way for development.
“The horse is out of the barn,” she said. “I feel very sad for the future generations.”
The suburban development will destroy the wide trail, obscure the last remaining views of the Green Mountains from Dorset Street and endanger wildlife in the park, the petition states.
“I don’t understand why the support is not there with so many people interested in saving the park,” said Jeanne Zagursky, one of the organizers of the effort to protect the parcel slated for development. “It’s not logical to me. I feel like there’s something not right with the system.”
When blasting last happened in the area earlier this year, it was loud, constant and terrifying, she recalled.
“Every single time your heart jumps and animals scramble and you’re just hoping that your basement’s not cracking. It’s not good,” she said.
“Unberarable” and “incessant” drilling measured up to 90 decibels when luxury homes were built in 2023 — also by BlackRock — on a section off Long Drive that had extensive ledge underground.
South Burlington recently approved standards for review of bedrock removal during development. These include limiting drilling and blasting to between 8 a.m. and 5 p.m., The Other Paper reported.
The fight against the development has left the 78-year-old Luzzatto dispirited.
“I’ve given up. That’s the sad part of it. We pretty much tried everything,” he said. “And frankly, we are all worn out.”
