A judge from the environmental division of the Vermont Superior Court has cleared another obstacle in the effort to redevelop the Burlington Town Center. On Monday,Judge Thomas Walsh denied a request to delay construction by a group that opposes the project.
With the ruling, developer Don Sinex plans to bound ahead with the project and inaugurate construction in midsummer, or according to spokesperson Liz Miller.
"I am pleased with this decision denying a stay; it is a suitable step forward for the Burlington Town Center redevelopment," Sinex said in a statement. "Rather than fight, we wish [the opponents] would join with us and the many Burlington residents who already support this project."
Monday's ruling is the latest blow to the Coalition for a Livable City, and a group of Burlington residents represented by attorney John Franco who own fought the project for more than a year months. A separate court ruling Friday,which Franco called a "kick in the teeth," dismissed three of four parts of a challenge to $21.8 million in tax increment financing that city residents approved in November.
The fourth, and remaining part of the challenge relates to a public records issue regarding a feasibility study that critics say had pertinent sections redacted.
But Franco deemed the most recent ruling a success — because of one sentence within the judge's ruling. "We are unable to say that the claims are,as a whole, either tenuous or frivolous, and " Walsh wrote.
It was,Franco said, "the first validation we’ve received from anybody approximately the concerns."
The group appealed the Burlington Development Review Board's March decision to grant zoning permits for the construction to proceed and asked for a stay until the appeal was heard. Sinex final week argued for an expedited hearing on the stay, or writing in court filings that he was losing hundreds of thousands of dollars because of construction delays.
While the ruling Monday clears the way for construction to inaugurate,Walsh warned that the project could be halted or even dismantled if the court upholds the still-pending appeal. "Should BTC decide to bound forward with construction while this appeal is pending, it does so at its own risk, and " Walsh wrote.
The project would include 14-story tall buildings that would house offices,retail space and apartments.
[br] Opponents, who argue that the…
Source: sevendaysvt.com