THIS IS THE FIRST OF A TWO PART POST

Dear Ward 6 Neighbors,

I hope this finds you well and enjoying a wonderful weekend.

While I will have my usual meeting preview posted in a few days for the March 25 Council meeting, one of the items on our deliberative agenda will be the second hearing of the Neighborhood Code. A lot has been written about the Code recently.

The purpose of this TWO PART POST is not only to inform you about the Code but also to invite your input as the Council will need to vote on this ordinance change at our next meeting. I will explain what our options are in relation to the vote. I have set up this post with headings so you can jump ahead if you wish.

WHY THE NEIGHBORHOOD CODE? First off, we all know and value that Burlington's neighborhoods are the soul of our community. Just as we value walking our kids to school, being close to amenities, so too we value the uniqueness of our neighborhoods.

At the same time, our neighborhoods have an important role in addressing the city's chronic and emerging housing challenges, meeting the needs of current and future households, and making tangible efforts to address the climate emergency. Even back in 2010, when drafting planBTV, our city's guiding land use framework for development, we recognized the opportunity for neighborhoods to evolve in incremental ways in order to meet the needs of current and future generations, including welcoming those seeking to be part of our community, allowing aging in place, growing our tax base and diversifying and expanding our housing options.

The slow pace of housing construction and rising housing costs are noted as one of the biggest challenges facing Burlington. One of the priorities in planBTV was to identify and address unintended or unnecessary barriers to creating new housing within parts of the city that are suitable to accommodate additional development.

WHAT IS THE NEIGHBORHOOD CODE? The focus of the Neighborhood Code is on how to create new neighborhood-scale housing options within residentially zoned areas. The process to develop these changes began 18 months ago, was data, driven and included meetings with local architects, planners, and developers. There have been over two dozen meetings and community forums on this topic, particularly in the past six months.

In simple English, the Code proposes to make changes to residential zones to allow for more housing.

RESIDENTIAL ZONES. WHAT DO THEY MEAN? There are essentially 3 residential zones: Residential Low Density, Medium Density and High Density, abbreviated as RL, RM and RH. Most of you live in RL. This area is currently characterized by single family homes, some duplexes, with some homes having a second dwelling unit such as an accessory dwelling unit that may not be attached to the primary structure.

THE STATE HAS MADE CHANGES TO STATEWIDE ZONING REQUIREMENTS. WHAT DOES THIS MEAN? At the end of the Legislative session last year, the Legislature passed S.100 or the HOME Act, designed to make Vermont more housing friendly. It is focused on creating more housing opportunities and affordable homes for everyone by allowing higher density development. (The law will also eliminate Act 250 oversight for "priority" housing projects in municipalities with a population that exceeds 10,000 people so clearly this applies to Burlington.)

What does this mean to our neighborhoods? It means that in Burlington, in the RL which most of you are in, "duplexes shall be an allowed use with the same dimensional standards as a single-unit dwelling and multiunit dwellings with four or fewer units shall be a permitted use."

Approximately 35% of Burlington's land area is RL and 22% of our land area is single family homes. Approximately 62% of the City's land parcels are RL. This is a lot of land with very few people living on it. The goal is more housing, more options, allowing for downsizing, greater ability to buy a first home, in sum, the goal is to enhance livability, affordability and increase opportunities.

WHAT ARE THE SPECIFICS OF THE CODE?

Please continue to the SECOND POST: NEIGHBORHOOD CODE - PART 2.

My best,
Karen

Apr 27, 2024, 12 to 1:30 PM

Apr 27, 2024, 1 to 4 PM

Apr 28, 2024, 10 AM to 2 PM