Carly Berlin covers housing and infrastructure for Vermont Public, in partnership with VTDigger.
An effort to open a new 100-bed emergency shelter in Chittenden County ahead of winter’s arrival is proving to be an uphill battle.
Two nonprofits, the Champlain Valley Office of Economic Opportunity and Champlain Housing Trust, have been searching for a building to house the new low-barrier shelter. It would be the largest year-round shelter for people experiencing homelessness in the state.
This summer, the organizations landed on a promising contender: a former mattress store on Williston Road in South Burlington, near Burlington International Airport.
But they’re walking away from the plan after South Burlington city officials registered their opposition in a public memo this week.
“Unfortunately, it doesn’t seem as though there’s sufficient leadership support or shared commitment to move the conversation forward,” said Sarah Russell, emergency services director for CVOEO, on Thursday. “We are tabling this proposal for the time being, and continuing to look for alternative sites.”
The proposed shelter would make a sizable dent in the need for shelter in Vermont’s most populous county, where tent encampments have become a common sight throughout the seasons. In August, CVOEO counted over 320 people living outdoors in and around Burlington, according to Russell. That number has risen as state leaders have continued to restrict the motel voucher program.
The proposed shelter would only be open during the evening hours. The nonprofits hope to have it ready for occupancy by December.
South Burlington officials argue that siting the shelter along Williston Road, about 3.5 miles from CVOEO’s daytime resource center in Burlington’s Old North End, would make it harder for unhoused individuals to access services.
“Though well-meaning, the new shelter simply displaces unhoused individuals from Burlington into a community that lacks the services required to assist them,” wrote City Manager Jessie Baker, along with South Burlington’s deputy city manager, police and fire chiefs, in a Sept. 1 memo to city councilors.
“For many decades the City of Burlington and regional service providers have advocated for and made decisions to centralize social services in Burlington in order to make it easier for people who need the services to access them with minimal barriers,” the officials wrote.
Officials in the Queen City — which hosts the overwhelming majority of shelter beds in the region — have argued for years that neighboring municipalities ought to do more to help shoulder the response to rising homelessness. In a 2024 interview, Baker told VTDigger that South Burlington would be ready to partner with a service provider if one came to officials with a potential shelter location and a plan.
The current proposal raises multiple issues, argued South Burlington Deputy City Manager Nicolas Storellicastro. The shelter would likely increase public safety calls, and its presence could encourage service providers in other communities to send individuals there, he said.
Transportation from the shelter location to services in Burlington would require a lengthy bus ride or walk, he said, and while CVOEO has suggested it could provide a shuttle service, details have been scant.
“A shelter for shelter’s sake is not necessarily the solution,” Storellicastro said. “The bed is one part of a multitude of services that our neighbors in crisis need. And so, are we doing them a disservice or not by separating them from the other pieces of their support system?”
Meanwhile, Republican Gov. Phil Scott also registered his criticism of the shelter plan at a press conference last week.
“I think, myself, 100 units in one location is a bad idea,” Scott said. “But having 100 available beds is a good idea, so that could be split up around the county.”
Russell said creating a larger shelter would allow CVOEO to contain costs for staffing and property acquisition as the organization tries to expand shelter access.
The anti-poverty organization had prepared to present its plans for the Williston Road shelter site at an upcoming South Burlington City Council meeting on Sept. 8. The presentation was not geared at seeking official approval for the project, but rather to engage community members about the plan, according to Russell and Storellicastro.
But after learning of city officials’ opposition, the organization decided to withdraw its presentation and halt its plans for the Williston Road site.
Russell said the organization is actively looking at several other potential locations to site the shelter.
“We still have some sticks in the fire,” she said. “It’s as we approach December 1, which was our anticipated opening date — we’re becoming slightly less hopeful that we will have the shelter online and operational by that date.”
