The 61 billboard-esque signs surrounding the downtown hole formerly known as Burlington Town Center were removed Wednesday afternoon — the only work at the stalled CityPlace development in almost a year.
Crews removed the 8-by-10-foot advertisements along Cherry and Bank streets, revealing boards, some graffitied, that shield the pit from public view. Combined, the signs measured 2,880 square feet, far exceeding the 150-square-foot allowance in Vermont’s billboard law, which was enacted in 1968, Seven Days reported last fall. The signs had been installed as part of an October 2017 development agreement with the city.
Representatives from project owner Brookfield Asset Management had told attendees at the Wards 2 and 3 Neighborhood Planning Assembly meeting last week that the signs would be coming down soon. Will Voegele, Brookfield’s senior vice president of development, said the concern over billboards was “not lost on us.”
“We’ve heard it before,” he said, “and we’ve just recently come to agreement that it’s time for them to come down.”
The room erupted in applause.
John Franco, the attorney representing a group of citizens opposed to aspects of the project, welcomed the news. He had filed a motion on their behalf on May 22 asking a judge to rule that the signs violate the billboard law and Burlington’s zoning ordinances. Brookfield took them down before the judge ruled on the motion, Franco said.
“Brookfield did the right thing,” Franco said. “We thank them for it, and hopefully we’re turning a new page here.”
Don Sinex, the developer, did not immediately respond to a request for comment. He told Seven Days last fall that it was “simplistic and misleading” to compare the signs to billboards. But several attorneys agreed the signs likely did run afoul of the law. The 50-year-old statute forbids such signs in the public right-of-way.
“There is no authority to grant variances from this,” John Dunleavy, a now-retired assistant attorney general, said at the time.
Burlington city attorney Eileen Blackwood had said the city disagreed with the state’s assessment and called the billboards “temporary construction signs.” She did not immediately return a call seeking comment Wednesday afternoon.
Signs or no, there is still no date for construction to commence. Voegele told the audience last week that Brookfield was still crunching numbers from the bid process, a prerequisite for building.
“I understand how difficult it is that there’s a hole in the ground over there with barriers around it, and believe me, we have a huge investment here,” Voegele said. “We get it. We would rather simply be over there pushing dirt around right now. So this isn’t the position we want to be in, but it is sometimes what has to happen with big, complicated developments.”
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Okay knowyourassuptions,
Once again, you are ragging on another comment. You have done this dozens of times. Would you PLEASE let people post their opinions, and don’t jump on them for it? You never even give your OWN opinions!
Yak yak yak, talk about crazy Burlington-land. Talk about the article or be quiet.
I know you’ll be tempted to “put me down” for this one too – but think twice. Thank you.
With all the billboards gone, how will I know how wonderful it is?
Time, time, time
See what’s become of me
While I looked around
For my possibilities
I was so hard to please
Taking down the ugly boards doesn’t mean anything. Who knows when and if the project will be completed? It was a mistake to even think about doing this project. Don The Con should have been vetted to see if he was reputable and honest. But it’s to late now.. With any luck something will be completed within the next 5 to 10 years and long after Miro is gone!!
Oh, this comment thread is working out just great!
You got the predictable comment from the person who gets up every morning and spends the entire day obsessing about a meaningless mural and who uses every article on this website, no matter how unrelated it is, to moan about the world-ending crisis of said mural.
And you got the obsessed Miro haters/capitalism haters/development haters/building haters/shopping haters/Democrat haters/everything haters who use any article about anything happening in Burlington to attack and blame Miro for not turning Burlington into a dreamy hippie socialist kumbaya commune where we all live in huts and barter with each other for our basic needs.
Oh, it’s just another perfect day in crazy la-la-Burlington land! Yay!
Those signs were not billboards . . they were predictions of the future and what a paradise downtown would be once it is over-developed and we can all go shopping. Now, I feel empty without them and am lost.
Disclaimer: the previous is satire, for those who cannot recognize it and have often confused it for being”hyperbolic”, usually those who post multiple times on one article but not posting about the article but about other comments, which appears easy to do if off your meds or too deep into the merlot for breakfast. I apologize if this is too complex.
How much of a Fine are the developer and the complicit City Council on the hook for for violating the Billboard Laws or are they getting the same Look the other way Pass that Kiss and Leopold got for violating the City Charter and CPG of Burlington Telecom when they violated those statutes by waylaying taxpayer funds that they were legally not supposed to?
YES a great victory make an ugly sight even uglier…progress indeed
Opportunity to move marketplace “Only White Lives Matter” billboard, aka ELAP mural, to this location, surrounding it with a multicultural representation of each city district, so Marketplace, North District, South District, etc.
The billboard signs coming down is a positive sign that the giant pit is nearing completion. I knew Weinberger would hold everyone’s feet to the fire on this project. Hopefully it is ready by the Fourth of July so there will be extra reason for fireworks.