Burlington’s City Hall Park was closed Wednesday morning as the city gears up for a major renovation of the two-acre green space.
Crews erected a chain link fence around the perimeter to secure the site for a redevelopment project that is expected to last until next fall. Plans call for realigned pathways, a new fountain, rain gardens, 1,500 perennial plants and grasses, and extra seating.
“Our park will get so much more use,” said Cindi Wight, director of the Burlington Parks, Recreation & Waterfront Department. “It will be a welcoming place.”
As soon as next week, the city will begin removing benches and trash cans and remediating compacted soils, Wight said.
That’s concerning to Jimmy Leas, a South Burlington attorney representing a group of citizens who sued the city in March over the project’s financing and other issues. On Monday, Leas filed an amended complaint that alleges the city’s own zoning permit for the renovation has expired.
He pointed to the Development Review Board’s stipulation that the permit would become invalid unless “work or action authorized by the permit” started by March 22, 2019.
“The city hasn’t done anything,” Leas said. “It hasn’t even done remedial action in the park in all this time.”
Leas is concerned that without a court-ordered injunction — and fast — Burlington’s historic park could be irreparably damaged.
“The city is running rampant over its own regulations,” he said. “It needs to be reined in and be required to do whatever any other developer has to do.”
Vermont Superior Court Judge Helen Toor gave the city until July 16 to respond to the amended complaint. Until then, City Attorney Eileen Blackwood would only say that the city disagrees with the opponents’ interpretation of the zoning permit rules.
The project will continue because “there is no court order telling the city to stop,” she said.
“The permit remains in effect and is completely valid,” Blackwood added. “The city has a right to go forward under it.”
Plans originally called for the removal of 38 trees, which mobilized a group called Keep the Park Green to protest the project design last spring. But the city ultimately altered the plans so that the park will only lose three total trees of 51 currently there. Most of the trees in poor condition will be removed and replaced, according to Wight.
Despite the ongoing conflict, things were calm at the park on Wednesday morning. Police officers and park employees stood guard just in case things got out of a hand, but authorities reported nothing amiss.
Laura Wheelock, a senior engineer with the city Department of Public Works, attributed that to the city’s efforts handing out fliers on Tuesday notifying people of the park’s impending closure.
“Generally, it was very well received,” Wheelock said, noting only a few folks were unaware the park was closing at all. “They appreciated the information.”
Nearby, three onlookers observed the scene. They lamented losing their hangout spot but agreed the park needs a makeover. One in the group, Bob Kennedy, said he was pleased to hear that loss of trees will be minimal.
One of Kennedy’s pals, Robert Sawyer, said the park redesign “doesn’t affect me or my life.” His other buddy, Jamie Bove, suggested it might affect others, though, such as people looking for a lunch spot or folks walking dogs.
“Look how many dogs there are in Burlington,” Bove said just as a woman with a fluffy pooch walked by. “Where are they going to go? Not everybody’s gonna go to the waterfront just to walk their dog, let me assure you this.”
Wight, the parks director, said she hopes parts of the park could reopen before next fall. She’s excited that construction will finally begin eight years after the project was first envisioned.
“It’s just going to be a beautiful place for the community,” she said.
For his part, Leas hopes the judge hears his clients’ pleas before demolition really gets underway.
“Hopefully we’ll get some kind of answer,” he said.
Read the full complaint below:
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Take a closer look at the claim that the park is losing only three trees and you will find that dozens of mature trees are being chopped down and “replaced” by saplings with a fraction of their girth, canopy, or presence. These are not even trades.
Furthermore, this high priced plan — more than $100,000 before the first chainsaw is fired up — emphasizes hardscape over green space and disregards the park’s historic character. Maybe people –certainly some people — will love it, but it looks more like a corporate plaza than a city park to me.
The attorney is WRONG. The work in the park actually started last year when the city started cutting down trees. The zoning permit is good for two years and can be extended for an additional year. One would think the attorney would know this.
Michael, the only thing that is historic in the city hall park is the dirt. Planting healthier trees will ensure a good canopy growth for years. I personally think they need fewer trees so the ones that are going in will have room to grow. The fountain is NOT historic to the park. The area is a Historic District, but if people read the information about the district it references BUILDINGS, not the dirt in the park.
About time, make it happen and stop talking about it. The price tag only goes higher. Don’t let the simple minded MINORITY hold up the project.
Downtown worker bee here, and I’m sorry to say that City Hall Park has really taken a turn for the worst over the last couple of years. Literally every other day is another open dispute between one of the various transients and a shirtless drunk. There has been frequent public intoxication and blatant drug dealing going on there, daily, for far too long. Tell me I’m wrong. I want to be wrong. Where ever the regulars go during construction, it certainly won’t be away. Will a new fountain and some trees change the fact that City Hall Park has become a wet shelter? I really don’t know.
*Leas is concerned that . . . Burlingtons historic park could be irreparably damaged.*
Translation: Leas and the usual gang of aging hippie obstructionists don*t want any changes to the run down eyesore that theyre used to.
Is the fencing around the park to keep spectators safe as they take in a vagrant knife fight? City Hall Park has become a dump for more reasons than just some old trees.
P.S. Hopefully this project moves quickly if/when it goes forward. Burlington does not need two giant holes in the middle of it.
Boy oh boy, there are a lot of people reading this comment thread with “dislikes” abundant whenever someone disagrees. People, you shall see for yourselves – that rendering of the park shows it 20 or 30 years from now. This has nothing to do with grumbling people – it has to do with money. [As for calling people “the usual gang,” I wouldn’t throw stones – because you too have become “the usual gang.”.] And just wait until you see “The Portland Loo.”