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Burlington Officials Approve Final Downtown Development Agreement

Burlington City Council considers Burlington Town Center resolution
Pat Bradley/WAMC
Burlington City Council considers Burlington Town Center resolution

The Burlington City Council has passed a resolution that authorizes the developer of a major downtown redevelopment to begin executing the plan.
The Burlington Square Mall opened in 1976 downtown and for a time was the centerpiece of the Church Street Marketplace.  Over the past few years planBTV was created to reimagine the city center.  Developer Don Sinex and the city agreed on a sometimes controversial redevelopment proposal called the Burlington Town Center. The 600,000-square foot plan includes market and affordable housing, commercial office space, retail, garage and bicycle parking, community space and a redesign of center city streets to establish through traffic.  Opponents took the plan to court over the inclusion of a 14-story building, which would be the tallest in the city. A settlement was reached this summer.

On Monday the city council reviewed a resolution that would authorize the execution of the development agreement.

Ward 1 Independent Sharon Bushor is not entirely pleased with the plan but would support it because compromises were made.  "I really wrestled with whether I should actually support this agreement or not. But the city has done the best for all of you in working with the developer to get this agreement in place. And I’m hoping that this development will certainly end up enhancing our community.”

Ward 3 Progressive Sara Moore wanted clarity on workforce housing and quizzed developer Sinex on that aspect of the project.   “It says the owner shall endeavor to develop some workforce housing as part of the residential component of this project. So what will you do to endeavor?”
Don Sinex: “I will look at what workforce housing is. And it’s a percentage of the area’s adjusted household income. So we are going to look at it very carefully and if in fact we can designate some apartments that fit within the realm of those percentages we will do so. That’s what endeavor means.”

Ward 2 Progressive Max Tracy is opposed to the project.   “I did not support the mall development because I did not think it provided enough in the way of affordable housing, in the way of strong liveable wage jobs for the city of Burlington and that the development itself would be accessible and used by a people from a range from across the economic spectrum. I continue to have those concerns and I think that this document continues to codify some of those inadequacies within this particular agreement.”

Burlington Mayor Miro Weinberger said after years of planning and negotiations the city council was taking the city’s final major action before construction begins.   “We will have many benefits as a community by moving forward. There will be the creation of hundreds of new downtown jobs. We will see a tripling of the property taxes paid by what is already one of our largest property tax payers on just the first phase of this development.  We will have a win for the environment both in terms of our protection of the lake and in terms of meeting some of our energy goals. And finally we are doing this because it creates hundreds of new homes.”

The resolution passed 11 to 1 with Councilor Tracy casting the nay vote.