CEDO

Public Process

Public Process

Graphic Summary of Public Process

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A public process to create, review and approve a development agreement between the City and the BTC Mall was approved by City Council in December 2014. This two-year public process was transparent and open to the public to ensure that both decision-makers and the public were able to fully understand the relevant issues, opportunities, solutions and compromises.  The process was led by a team of City staff (led jointly by CEDO and Planning & Zoning Offices) and supported by a Technical Team of consultants in areas of professional expertise including urban design, economics, real estate development traffic and parking, stormwater, legal, financial, etc.

The first phase of the public process was a community engagement and design process to identify detailed community goals and objectives for the redevelopment of the BTC Mall property. These community goals were blended with the Mall owner's vision for the property and current market conditions to result in a conceptual master plan for the site. Revised plans presented in January 2016 highlighted how public input impacted designs for the mall's redevelopment in a way that is believed to be feasible and constructable. The second phase of the process was to establish, through a predevelopment agreement for a public-private partnership, clear responsibilities and commitments on the part of the mall owner and the City that would be necessary to bring the conceptual plan to fruition and result in a fiscally viable development project.

Click here to view an overall summary of the Public Process and Recommendations, or click on the links below to review presentations and summaries from specific public events. 

 
 

Overview of Public Process & Comments

INITIAL STEPS (through Dec 2014)

Step 1: Discuss with Developer; reach out to Councilors and Commissioners

Step 2: City Council authorized the initiation of a Development Agreement Process with the owner of the Burlington Town Center Mall (referred to as the BTV Mall). 

Step 3: Identify and hire technical team consultants. BTV Mall provides first installment of funding; City hires its technical team to develop/review/vet development proposals, assesses economic and other impacts, and assist in negotiation of Development Agreement (December 2014)

 
PHASE ONE: COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT & DESIGN PROCESS (Jan 2015 - May 2015) 

The City convened the Development Agreement Public Advisory Committee (DAPAC).

Step 4: Refine the Development Concept (January – May 2015)

Public Meeting #1 was a Kickoff Public Meeting in January 2015 attended by 150 people. During this meeting, the City reviewed planBTV: Downtown and Waterfront Master Plan (in particular “The Mall” section), the Mall owner presented a conceptual proposal in response to City goals and economics of these changes, and there was a facilitated discussion to take public comments. Participants were invited to the February design workshops. Burlington Town Center Kickoff Comments

Public Meeting #2 was a Development and Design Workshop during February 2015. 300 people participated in this multi-day public design workshop, and over 400 comments were received on different components of the proposal—including: public spaces—arcades, streetscapes, roof top park and gardens; transportation and parking; stormwater and utilities; building scale and mass; housing mix and affordability; non-residential mix; public finance and commitments and an economic impact analysis. BTV Mall Public Workshop Comments 

Public Meeting #3 was a Public Review of Workshop Results in April 2015; a summary of the workshop comments were sent to the BTV Mall team. Summary of Public Comments 

Public Meeting #4 was a presentation of Public, City and Technical Team Comments in May 2015. City’s Team to presented their review, analysis and recommendations on the various elements of the development concept followed by the Development Team's presentation of a preliminary plan. Community Design Presentation     Comments and Feedback 

 
PHASE TWO: ESTABLISH A DEVELOPMENT AGREEMENT FOR A FEASIBLE PROJECT (May 2015 - May 2016)

Step 5: Negotiate a Predevelopment Agreement (May 2015 thru May2016)

City & Technical Team entered into discussions with the BTV Mall owner, structured around specific components of the proposed development.

Public Meeting #5 was a presentation of Revised Plans and a Framework for a Development Agreement, which took place twice in January 2016. During this presentation, the Development Team presented revised plans for the mall's redevelopment, and together with the City Team and the City's Technical team, outlined the framework of a proposed Development Agreement. The public provided feedback on details of the revised plans and the key elements of a proposed development agreement during the two January meetings and via an online comment form. BTC Mall & Conceptual Framework Presentation- CCTV Recording      Presentation Slides     Meeting & Online Comments on Revised Plans & Framwork

At the March 7 and 21, 2016 City Council Meetings, the Mall's design team presented before-and-after views of the proposed project from various locations around the City. Views of Proposed Project from Locations in City (March 7)      Supplemental view- Edmunds & Champlain College (March 21)

On April 20th, Mayor Miro Weinberger announced and released the draft predevelopment agreement between the City of Burlington and the mall property owner, Don Sinex’s BTC Mall Associates LLC, for the redevelopment of the Burlington Town Center mall. The proposed redevelopment will create and preserve hundreds of downtown jobs, help address the City’s housing challenge by creating at least 270 new homes, of which at least 54 units (20%) will be permanently affordable, and restore St. Paul and Pine Streets, which are currently blocked by the mall. The restored north-south streets will reconnect the downtown district with Burlington’s Old North End neighborhood, achieving a long-held City goal and healing some of the disruption caused by Urban Renewal. The agreement also commits the property owner to pay construction workers livable wages and to take steps to create construction and permanent job opportunities for local workers. The City will build up to $21.89 million of public infrastructure improvements using future property tax revenue generated by the estimated $200 million of new private investment in the project through tax increment financing (TIF). These new public infrastructure improvements on St. Paul and Pine Streets include the creation of streets, sidewalks, subsurface utilities, and street lighting and will make the project more successful and responsive to the City’s needs.

At the April 25, 2016 Council Meeting, the Mall's design team presented additional information on the project design and sun-shade studies. They provided a fly-through model of the proposed project as well as animated sun studies. This presentation was followed by an analysis of the project's design by the City's Technical Team, a presentation on the proposed Zoning Amendment by the Planning Director and a presentation regarding the student housing commitment to the project by Champlain College.  All presentations and documents from this meeting are available, on this webpage. 

At the May 2, 2016 Council Meeting, Council approved a revised Predevelopment Agreement. The approved Predevelopment Agreement is available on this webpage.

PHASE THREE:  FINALIZE REDEVELOPMENT PLANS, ADVANCE DOWNTOWN MIXED USE CORE (DMUC) OVERLAY, AND CITY-WIDE VOTE (May 2016 - November 2016)

Between the months of May and November, there were approximately 25 public meetings of various City boards, commissions, and committees to discuss and take public comment on the DMUC Overlay.  This included several City Council work sessions and a September 29, 2016 public hearing on the proposed overlay.  In October 2016, Devonwood released updated proposed plans for the BTC Redevelopment that responded to suggestions from the public and the City's Boards and Commissions collected over the summer and fall.  On November 8, 2016, Burlington voters approved the DMUC Overlay as well as the Tax Increment Financing (TIF) ballot item authorizing the use of up to $21.8 million in TIF funding for public improvements to the surrounding infrastructure and adjacent streets. 

PHASE FOUR:  SUBMITTAL OF FINAL PLANS, PERMITTING PROCESS (November 2016 - March 2017)

Following the vote, the owner of BTC officially submitted redevelopment plans for the necessary permits, and in December 2016, the owner announced that the construction team for the redevelopment would be PC Construction.  The permitting process included public reviews of the proposed project and its design by the Design Advisory Board, Development Review Board, and Conservation Board.  The public was invited to attend these meetings and provide input to the boards during the public forum.  In March 2017, the Development Review Board unanimously approved the plans for the redevelopment of the Burlington Town Center.