A proposal to redevelop the Burlington Town Center is closer to final approval after a pair of court decisions, Mayor Miro Weinberger announced Monday.The court decisions come after an announcement in April that financing is in place for the redevelopment.
Weinberger said a decision in Vermont Superior Court dismissed three challenges related to a city-wide vote in November in which voters approved new zoning to allow for the 14-story proposed development and approved public funding to support public infrastructure that is part of the redevelopment proposal.
Opponents of the project challenged the outcome of the vote, alleging that the city mischaracterized how the funding would be used. The court dismissed that legal challenge on May 19, according to Weinberger’s office.
“It really made it quite clear that the court does not intend to overturn the results of a major election in which thousands of people participated,” Weinberger said in an interview Tuesday.
In another case on Monday, the state’s environmental court refused to order a halt to the redevelopment efforts until a remaining challenge to the project is decided. That ruling is not the same as a final decision in favor of the project, but Weinberger says he sees it as a good sign for the redevelopment effort that he has been closely involved in from its beginning.
“Essentially, it does not allow this small number of opponents to stop a decision that has been made by the city council, been made by the planning commission, that has been made by the [Development Review Board]," Weinberger said, "and in this case, unusually, a decision really affirmed by the voters of Burlington, who want to see the project move forward."
