Burlington zoning changes don't serve public

Important City Council meeting tonight... 6:15 PM - Contois Auditorium, City Hall

Burlington Free Press by Maurice Mahoney [former city councilor and member of Citizens for a Liveable City] -

My Turn: Zoning changes don't serve public

August 4, 2007
Councilor Jane Knodell's My Turn: Zoning draft allows city to evolve (July 24) was incomplete in its facts. What was omitted was more revealing than what was stated. Her justifications for the zoning amendments offered by Councilors Kurt Wright, Tim Ashe, Knodell and Paul Decelles are misleading and suggest that Burlington will go to hell in a hand-basket if the Wright, Ashe, Knodell and Decelles amendments are not passed.

Wait just a minute, folks.

After more than four years of work by the Planning Commission, these councilors offered some 40 pages of amendments out of the blue.

In contrast, Councilors Joan Shannon and Russell Ellis offered a few amendments that reflect years of public concern and input from their constituents.

The amendments Knodell supported would have removed parking requirements for the crowded Old North End, destroyed view corridors for the people of Burlington and many visitors who don't come here to look at 10-story buildings rising straight up from the sidewalk, wiped out citizen right of appeal with on-the-record review, allowed developers to overbuild on wetland areas and open lands the city has protected and giving "bonuses" for doing what any responsible developer should be doing anyway.

And that is just a start.

The origins of the Wright, Ashe, Knodell, Decelles amendments are mysterious. Some are CEDO ideas rejected a year ago after public opposition. But all of them came from some back room. None of them came from the public's desire to maintain and preserve what is so wonderful about Burlington while encouraging responsible development.

How many members of the public said they would support losing their legal right of appeal on inappropriate building plans?

Councilor Knodell says that without her amendments, Burlington would wither away. Jane, none of us are that stupid.

Councilor Knodell bemoans the 12-foot setback requirement. She doesn't tell you that the 12-foot setback requirement is from the curb. As an example, the Roxy Cinema has a 13-foot setback on South Winooski Avenue and 15 feet on College Street. The new Westlake Condominium and hotel project on Battery Street, which has been universally panned for its hulking ugliness, has a 12-foot setback on Cherry Street. Is 12 feet too much? Would Councilor Knodell like her new high rises to cover the public sidewalk, too?

Typically, when politicians can't justify their position, they attack anyone who questions them. Councilor Knodell says opponents of her proposed amendments are afraid of any change.

Hold on here. No one I know is opposed to development in Burlington. But many people I know do not want the "radical, maximum-growth-at-any-cost approach" she advocates.

I urge the people of Burlington not to be intimidated by name-calling for their legitimate opinions. I remember when Councilor Knodell's Progressive colleagues and CEDO wanted a 200-room hotel on the waterfront where the park now stands. Opponents who said the land is public trust and should be open for the people were called flakes and loonies and against progress. I know because I was one of those people who fought hard for our Waterfront Park. Would you rather have a big hotel there?

People who wanted a public vote on the Moran/YMCA deal were called obstructionist and nay-sayers. I know because I was one of those people who demanded that the public have a voice in their property. Are you sorry you had a chance to vote on that idea?

I urge Burlington citizens to pay attention to what is being taken from them with the Wright, Ashe, Knodell, Decelles amendments. Get involved. Learn as much as you can about what some city councilors want to do to our future. Speak your mind without fear.

The true measure of a livable city is not just in what you add or change, but most importantly what you keep.