A group of housing advocates, elected officials, developers and other local leaders are banding together to get 3,500 homes built in Chittenden County over the next five years.
The new coalition, led by the Champlain Housing Trust, Housing Vermont and the Chittenden County Regional Planning Commission, has about 100 members. Monday morning, roughly 50 of them gathered outside a CHT housing development in South Burlington to announce the new initiative, dubbed Building Homes Together.
“I think we all get it now,” said Kevin Dorn, the South Burlington city manager. “We need housing across a broad spectrum of affordability.” He added: “It’s gonna take a regional approach to get this done.”
Burlington Mayor Miro Weinberger and Colchester town manager Dawn Francis also announced at the media event their support for the partnership.
In 2014, the county gained about 600 units of new housing, but the average in recent years has been closer to 450 units, according to Charlie Baker, executive director of the Chittenden County Regional Planning Commission. He noted that roughly 1,000 people move to the county each year, creating a tight housing market that’s unaffordable for too many people. The new initiative would add 700 units each year.
The coalition also wants 20 percent of the 3,500 new units to be affordable housing developed by nonprofit organizations.
While the group wasn’t ready to offer specific policy proposals Monday, there are a number of influential people — ranging from state senators to nonprofit directors — who will be able to advocate for those proposals once they’re agreed upon. And Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.) and Congressman Peter Welch (D-Vt.) all have voiced support for the ambitious project.
“This is not about one or two big things that need to happen. This is about a thousand little decisions,” Baker explained.
He did note that the coalition plans to advocate for housing projects during the local development review process. That’s the time those projects most often encounter resistance and get scaled back. “Part of the role here will be to balance the conversation at those DRB [development review board] meetings a little bit more,” Baker said.
The coalition may pursue changes in local zoning regulations, and will push for more public funding for affordable housing and infrastructure upgrades. Francis noted that Colchester is currently limited in what it can build because it lacks a municipal sewage system.
“This step-up in production will not just provide new homes and infrastructure for communities, it’ll be a boost to the economy and contribute to the tax base,” Nancy Owens, the president of Housing Vermont, said in a press release announcing the campaign.
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Already close to 1,000 new units soon to be finished and further planned for South Burlington off Spear Street, Dorset Street, Hinesburg Road, and Kennedy Drive. In Burlington alone, there is the Grove Street project (232 units); Burlington College land project (600 units); and the tall mall 14-story twin towers planned to loom over Church Street downtown. In Shelburne, Kwiniaska Golf Course off Spear St (100 units to be built). Williston unrecognizable from 20 years ago and more housing coming. Hinesburg Village has exploded, for good and bad, with hundreds of new units and more coming. Probably over 2,500 units in the pipeline at least. Is this not enough?!
Traffic is already intolerable getting in and out of Burlington, South Burlington and Winooski during AM and PM rush hours. Why do these rich developers and their bureaucrat friends at Champlain Housing Trust and the Regional Planning Commission want to make traffic even worse and bring the intense population density of larger cities here? How is this “planning” for Chittenden County? When is enough enough? Haven’t they made enough money already?
Incidentally, the cause of the “affordable housing” crunch is mandates from the Legislature that require the normal working class to have to subsidize all this “affordable housing.” The rents and fair market value purchase prices for all the rest of us who don’t qualify for the “affordable housing” are driven sky-high to subsidize the developers who are required to set aside a percentage for affordable housing. Maybe just get rid of the mandates instead?
BTW, the journalist should note that South Burlington City Manager Kevin Dorn, who she cites in this article, is a former top employee/lobbyist for the Vermont Homebuilder’s Association. Sounds like a potential conflict of interest to me.
The problem with housing in Chittenden County is not a lack of supply, it is an inflation of expectations. People want giant homes and don’t want to live with each other anymore. 2 bedroom apts are renting to couples and even single people who want a guest room or home office. It is very difficult to rent 3-4 bedroom apts even when the all-in rent/utilities per bedroom is below $650/mo. Used to be a family of 6 would get by in a 3 bed/1 bath, now they NEED 5 bed/3 bath and the government to pay for it for them. Supply is not the problem and these housing organizations seeking taxpayer money to overbuild our community are not solving any problem. A home is just a place to sleep and eat, not a place to shoot your own personal episode of Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous.
The problem is not the lack of housing in Chittenden County, the problem is the lack of good jobs in the rest of Vermont. The solution is not to keep building in Chittenden County, it is to create more good jobs in the rest of Vermont. The way to do that is to focus all available state money on job creation outside of Chittenden County. We are a state, not a county and everything else.
Is Chittenden County actually in VT? It sure doesn’t look like it anymore, and getting less so each day.
3500 more housing units means another 7,000 cars, and more than 14,000 daily trip-ends each day. Less than 1% of the adult population can function without a car in VT. And what about the environmental consequences…more phosphorous from runoff and sewage treatment, lack of open land, demand for services, etc.
Talk to ANY resident who doesn’t earn their living promoting building or working in real estate and they will all tell you that this area has already become too congested, and quality of life is majorly decreasing.
This proposal will not reduce housing prices, nor make rents more affordable. What we have going on here is a “if you build it, they will come scenario”. We have built many THOUSANDS of units during the past 5-10 years, and this has not reduced demand nor lowered rents. And in some instances, the “urban jungle” they are creating is pushing MORE development into our rural and suburban locales. The past incompetent housing policies are actually to blame, not zoning or local opposition. The medical communty has a term for unregulated growth: CANCER.
Be very skeptical of this self-serving proposal. All of the organizations supporing this have huge payrolls and contain hundreds of employees, which are funded entirely by building and real-estate development. Quite a few individuals make more than $100,000 annually, especially in the so-called non-profits. They need to build thousands of units just to keep their own employment. Even the VHCB (Vermont Housing Conservation Board), is funded entirely by the property transfer tax, so many homes must be sold each year to keep this agency going. Your tax dollars at work. Even VLT (Vermont Land Trust) has several employees earning more than $100,000 annually.
Any of these houses which are not built as net positive energy, or at least net zero, will be a future liability to Vermont. I don’t see a word in this article reflecting that it is even a consideration… Maybe this was left out of the story, but I suspect not. No project is better than a bad one.