BURLINGTON, Vt. (WCAX) – An effort to make it easier to build thousands of housing units will go before the Burlington City Council in the coming weeks. The idea is to allow property owners to build “infill” housing, or homes within existing neighborhoods. But the effort will require a major zoning change.
Burlington’s housing vacancy rate hovers at a paltry 1% or lower. With housing prices going up, the city wants to give property owners or buyers a chance to build within neighborhoods.
“This city needs to grow. So, we’re either prepared for it, or we’re not. We need to increase our tax base,” said Burlington City Councilor Melo Grant, P-Central, one of the many councilors supportive of the idea.
He says neighborhood code would upzone, or allow property owners to add units that could look like duplexes or even small buildings with apartments on lots within neighborhoods. “If people don’t want to sell their property, they don’t have to sell their property. If they don’t want to develop their property. They don’t have to develop their property. There’s nothing in this that says that you must do this. It’s just saying if you choose to, here’s what you can do,” Grant said.
He says that there should be a more uniform density for how much housing could be built across the city and that all neighborhoods should bear the responsibility of adding to the housing stock.
But some residents in Ward 1 near the University of Vermont are asking for a lower density because they worry that the only new residents will be college students and college housing. “It’s my concern that we haven’t taken into consideration what a vibrant downtown neighborhood should look like nd so there are some historic neighborhoods that are built with a mix of interesting residents, and I believe that mix is important,” said Steve Conant, a Ward 1 resident.
Councilor Tim Doherty, D-East, represents UVM neighborhoods and says the university will increase student housing under the proposal and that there should be some considerations for a lower density for a neighborhood that’s already been segmented by a plethora of student housing. “The goals of the neighborhood code is to really examine carefully each individual neighborhood, each individual section of the city, look at the opportunities, the challenges the pressures of each each part of the city, and adjust the zoning rules accordingly,” Doherty said.
The council is expected to look at the neighborhood code and possibly vote at its March 25th meeting.
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