Redeveloped section with St Paul Street view. Artist rendering.
Vermont Business Magazine Mayor Miro Weinberger, joined by former Progressive Mayor Peter Clavelle, Progressive City Council President Jane Knodell, Democratic Councilor Joan Shannon, and Independent Councilor Dave Hartnett today announced the launch of a unity campaign in support of City ballot items #1, #2, #3, and #4 to make the City more affordable, sustainable, and vibrant. The campaign treasurer is former Mayor Peter Clavelle, and the chair is Councilor Dave Hartnett (North District). The campaign will co-ordinate its activities through the Partnership for Burlington’s Future, a campaign committee first organized by Mayor Weinberger in 2012 to advocate for local ballot questions.
“Burlingtonians are fortunate to live in a wonderful city,” said Mayor Weinberger. “It is a great place to work, visit, and call home in part because prior generations have made substantial public infrastructure investments and taken on major challenges, such as the redevelopment of Church Street. Now it is our turn to invest in our infrastructure and our downtown to ensure that the City we leave to our children is even greater than the one we enjoy today by voting “Yes” on #1, #2, #3, and #4 on November 8.”
“I am happy to vote “Yes” on ballot items that will make Burlington more inclusive and affordable,” said Council President Knodell. “By fixing our infrastructure now, while interest rates are low, and by creating new homes in our downtown, we are taking important steps to reduce the cost of living in Burlington while also increasing the options to do so in an environmentally sound way.”
Councilors Correct Inaccuracies in Opposition Advertisements
Councilors expressed concern about recent print advertisements and fliers published by the Coalition for a Livable City that are spreading false information about the ballot items.
“One of Burlington’s strengths is its engagement and debate about key public decisions,” said Councilor Joan Shannon. “But to move the community forward, it is critical that those debates be grounded in facts, not distortions and misrepresentations. Given their record, the public should be skeptical of information being circulated by the Coalition. Claims about the TIF diverting money from Burlington Schools, that existing zoning would give you more affordable housing, and that we would get a better development without this zoning change are factually incorrect.”
Specifically the Councilors addressed this Coalition statement “The Mayor is asking the people of Burlington to give a TIF gift of 22 million dollars, instead of using those funds towards desperately needed school repairs.” The Councilors characterized this statement as flatly inaccurate and corrected the record describing how the TIF investment represents a good deal for Burlingtonians:
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All of the Tax Increment Financing (TIF) will be invested in needed, City-owned downtown public infrastructure with broad public benefits. The funds will be invested in a variety of public amenities including new lighting, new sidewalks and curbs, new street trees, stormwater improvements, and more in a wide, eight block area of the downtown (see attached images, in particular on pp. 21 and 22).
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The developer will pay for these public improvements through the new, much higher property taxes on the property when it is completed. These new local and state property taxes are conservatively projected at an additional $2.4 million a year.
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The only way that these new taxes can be invested in Burlington, instead of largely being sent to Montpelier, is by investing them in public infrastructure that creates new economic development through the TIF district. There is no legal way to spend TIF funds fixing up Burlington’s schools.
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Councilors also noted that the Coalition has released inaccurate images and videos of the proposed Burlington Town Center redevelopment. The Councilors encouraged the public to go to the City’s web site for both accurate images of the project and the proposed public amenities. Images can be found directly at the link that follows: https://www.burlingtonvt.gov/sites/default/files/CEDO/Files/btvmall/all%20views%20combined.pdf.
Further Opportunities for Refining and Improving Proposed Redevelopment
Although the proposed downtown redevelopment has been under public discussion and review for two years, considerable additional process will follow November 8 if ballot questions #3 and #4 are approved. The Mayor and Councilors encouraged those with concerns and questions about the proposed project to look to make that change in the remaining processes that will follow a YES vote, as opposed to ending the proposed project with a no vote. The additional process before the proposed project could start construction includes:
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The approval of the City’s final Development Agreement with Devonwood Associates. A Predevelopment Agreement is in place between the parties, but some issues will be decided in the final agreement.
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Land Use Permitting. The proposed project will go through permitting review and approval by the Development Review Board once the zoning has been granted final approval by the public.
Campaign Announces Town Meetings and House Parties
Over the next four weeks the Partnership for Burlington’s Future will sponsor a number of events for the public to ask questions and learn more about the ballot questions. These events include:
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Town Hall-Style Meetings with the Mayor in the New North End and the Center City. Pasta dinner will be provided for attendees, and the Mayor will take questions and discuss the ballot items with those in attendance. The New North End Meeting will be held in the early evening of Wednesday, November 2 and the Center City meeting will be held in the next few weeks at a time to be determined.
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City Councilor House Parties. City Councilors are organizing a series of house parties across the City with different hosts. If you would like to be included, please contact your City Councilor or the Partnership for Burlington’s Future (David Oppenheimer’s contact information is listed above)
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Telephone Town Meeting. On Sunday, November 6 at 4pm, the Mayor will be hosting a “Telephone Town Meeting” to discuss the ballot items and take questions. This “meeting” takes advantage of technology that allows the Mayor to call all the landline numbers in the City simultaneously and take questions from those interested in discussing the November ballot. Please contact David Oppenheimer if you want to make sure you have an opportunity to participate in this call.
The campaign is also sponsoring an active web site/Facebook page at http://BTVFuture.com and will be conducting additional campaign efforts.
“Yes” Ballot Questions #1, #2, #3, and #4
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.
“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 Tax Increment Financing investments (TIF) 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. Failure on either vote will instead create great uncertainty about the future of the declining, 1970s era, suburban mall that currently sits across our downtown and blocks north-south access along Pine Street and St. Paul Street. 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.
The passage of Questions #1, #2, #3, and #4 will make our City more affordable, sustainable, and vibrant for years to come. More information about the campaign and is available at: http://www.BTVFuture.com.
Source: Mayor Weinberger's office 10.11.2016