Vermont Business Magazine City of Burlington voters on Tuesday passed the four ballot questions related to economic development in the city. Questions #1 and #2 was related to Sustainable Infrastructure Bonds necessary to implement the first five years of the City’s 10-Year Capital Plan. The plan addresses infrastructure improvements and funding to replace firetrucks. The passed by 76 percent and 88 percent respectively. The more controversial ballot questions are related to the $220 million redevelopment of Burlington Town Center, in particular to the increase in the building height requirement to 160 feet and for infrastructure improvements to the development area, which necessitates the establishment of a TIF (Tax Increment Financing) District for the development.
Question 3, whose centerpiece was the height allowance, proved the more difficult selling point for city officials. The new BTC will push much higher than anything in town, which opponents said is out-of-scale to the rest of the architecture in Burlington and to the human scale of the city. In the end, voters passed all four ballot items, but question #3 received the fewest votes (53.9 percent), with #4 getting 58.6 percent.
City of Burlington photos. Top is artist rendering of proposed BTC.
Ballot questions #1 and #2, which were unanimously approved by the City Council on September 19, 2016, are for Sustainable Infrastructure Bonds necessary to implement the first five years of the City’s 10-Year Capital Plan and address our significant street, sidewalk, bike path, water distribution and fire engine needs. More detail about the capital plan can be found on the City website at: https://www.burlingtonvt.gov/Mayor/10-Year-Capital-Plan.
According to the City's documentation, the $50 million, 10-year capital plan will address upgrading water pipes, streets, sidewalks, and firetrucks. After two years of municipal property tax rate cuts, and with the City’s finances restored to a strong position and interest rates at historic lows, now is the most cost-effective time to address this growing challenge.
Non-property tax revenues will pay for over 40 percent of the plan in order to keep the impact on property taxes as low as possible. The plan would add a couple of dollars a month to the median property tax bill in 2018, and it would go up a little bit more each of the four years after that as the $27.5 million general obligation bond you will vote on is drawn down incrementally between now and Fiscal Year 2021.
In return, residents will see vastly improved streets and sidewalks, the replacement of 2/3rds of our fleet of aging fire trucks, a completed Bike Path renovation and enhancement, updated water mains, and much more
The “Yes” votes on questions #3 and #4 will enable the redevelopment of the Burlington Town Center into a new City neighborhood by re-zoning a narrow, carefully chosen section of the downtown and authorizing the City to make the TIF investments in public infrastructure in an up to eight block section of the downtown. YES votes will result in reconnected streets, substantial new environmental and Lake protections, vast new City and Education Fund revenues, progress on our challenge making housing more affordable for all, creation of new downtown jobs, and more.
Mayor Miro Weinberger and others maintain that the future of the declining, 1970s era, suburban-style mall on Church Street currently blocks north-south access along Pine Street and St. Paul Street, is dependent on the redevelopment and therefore the ballot questions.
Details about the proposed zoning change, TIF authorization, and the BTC Mall redevelopment project can be found on the City website at: https://www.burlingtonvt.gov/CEDO/BTV-Mall-Redevelopment-Process(link is external).
Don Sinex (right) with Mayor Weinberger last spring in front of BTC. VBM photo.
Don Sinex, managing member of Devonwood Investors LLC and BTC Mall Associates LLC, the owner and developer of the Burlington Town Center, issued the following statement regarding the passage of Questions 3 & 4.
“I am humbled and appreciative that Burlington voters have allowed this project to proceed by affirming the City Council’s downtown zoning changes and supporting the City’s use of Tax Increment Financing for the associated public improvements.
"With this transformative redevelopment, we will eliminate the out-of-date suburban mall now weighing down the middle of this beautiful downtown. We will replace the aging, rusting, underutilized mall with new housing, new streets, new jobs, increased revenue, and greater opportunity, bringing new life to the heart of the downtown. This will become a place where people can once again live, work, play, and enjoy a connected, vibrant downtown Burlington.
"This is a beautiful and welcoming city, with passionate, engaged residents. I have worked hard throughout this process to listen and to deliver a new Burlington Town Center that truly will serve the needs of all Burlington residents and visitors. I plan to continue to do that as we move through the permitting process and into construction.
"I want to thank everyone who has worked hard on the milestones for this redevelopment and on the ballot measures, including Mayor Weinberger, City Council President Jane Knodell, all of the City Councilors who voted in favor of these measures, and a broad, multi-partisan group of community leaders, nonprofit institutions, businesses, and residents. We have committed to build an extraordinary project to complement, strengthen, revitalize, and reconnect Burlington. I look forward to getting it done!”
The developer said the redevelopment of the Burlington Town Center will create 274 new apartments with 55 permanently inclusionary units, new office space and retail, and two new public streets. New services, such as an early childhood education center and community space, and revitalized retail will serve both onsite residents and visitors. The project will also incorporate state-of-the-art stormwater handling, LEED Gold environmentally-responsible construction, and renewable energy and energy efficiency measures, serving as a lead partner in Burlington’s District Energy initiative. The project’s next steps will be through the City permitting process. If permitting proceeds apace, the Burlington Town Center redevelopment will break ground in the first half of 2017.