Neighbors who have long opposed a proposed housing project adjacent to the 110-acre Wheeler Nature Park in South Burlington are now appealing to the city’s elected board.
After their latest arguments opposing a 32-unit mixed housing project were dismissed by the Vermont Supreme Court last month, more than 290 residents have signed a petition calling on the City Council to buy back the 7-acre parcel or encourage landowner JAM Golf, LLC, to donate it back to the city.
The council has not discussed the project since the parcel at the intersection of Dorset Street and Park Road was created as part of a settlement with JAM Golf in 2015, according to James Marc Leas, an appellant and neighbor who has fought against development there.
“But now things have really changed in South Burlington because there wasn’t even a glimmer of thought that we would fill up CityCenter. … It was just a dirt road then,” he said, arguing the project would be better situated farther away from the nature park that has the “last remaining views of the Green Mountains from anywhere along Dorset Street in South Burlington.”
The project aims to build a mix of duplexes, single-story carriage homes and two-story single-family homes with roadway and utility access on the undeveloped 6.9-acre parcel, Benjamin Avery, president of construction and development at BlackRock Construction LLC, said at the time.
BlackRock Construction won development review board approval to build on the land in 2021 and cleared the state’s Act 250 permit in 2022, but the state permit was soon appealed by a group of 125 neighbors and the Neighbors Committee to Stop Neighborhood Blasting.
It has been tied up in environmental court since, with more than 26 competing motions entered and ruled upon by the court. Last month, the Vermont Supreme Court ruled in favor of the developer.
The petition filed by residents last week claims the proposed development will destroy the wide trail, obscure the last remaining views of the hills, endanger park wildlife, and, most notably, lead to disruptive drilling and blasting of the rock ledge.
“JAM Golf is a private company and should not be allowed to develop on preserved Nature Park Land for such destructive private purposes. It is morally wrong for it to do so, and it sets a dangerous precedent for all developers who see green spaces as potential sources of private income that can be taken from the public,” the petition stated.
The developer did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The city acquired the 110-acre nature park in 1992. It consists of mixed forest, grasslands, shrublands, wetlands, about 2 miles of walking trails, a tree nursery and a 14-acre Wheeler Homestead area that includes community garden plots for rent. City planning documents have referred to it as “the green lungs of the City Center.”
The Wheeler parcel at 550 Park Road was created in 2017 as part of a settlement agreement between the city and James McDonald, who still owns the property through a limited liability corporation called JAM Golf. It is one of several developments approved in the original master plan for the Vermont National Country Club and golf course over 434 acres.
“Overpriced apartment complexes,” such as the proposed, can be particularly detrimental where there is a real need for affordable housing, said Kitty Cameron, one of a handful of residents who shared her views at the June 27 City Council meeting.
She said the impact would be devastating to the beauty and wildlife of the adjoining park that she and her partner visit daily. She is also concerned about how construction runoff could affect the fragile ecosystem there.
“There’s just so much to treasure in that space,” she said, urging the council to take a pause and really assess the long-term impact of the project.
Jeanne Zagursky, who presented the petition, said residents want to avoid creating a precedent of cutting up and developing portions of a nature park that’s supposed to be preserved in perpetuity.
The council accepted the petition last week and is considering an executive session July 7 “for the purposes of discussing the negotiation or securing of real estate purchase or lease options, and specifically the JAM Golf parcel,” according to the posted agenda.
With approvals in place for 550 Park Road, the property owner is now free to seek a zoning permit for site work, such as building the road and then building the homes, according to Paul Connor, director of planning and zoning for the city.
“We’ve not received any of those yet, so I don’t have a timeline,” he said. “But they could come whenever they’re ready.”
As City Center grows so does the need for this parkland to be preserved, said Leas, who likened the spot to New York City’s Central Park.
“Hundreds of residents think it’s worth a try,” he wrote in an email.
