City of South Burlington Comprehensive Plan Adopted by the South Burlington City Council March 9, 2011 South Burlington Comprehensive Plan Table of Contents SOUTH BURLINGTON COMPREHENSIVE PLAN Amended and Adopted MARCH 9, 2011 CHAPTER I INTRODUCTION ............................................................... 2 CHAPTER II SOUTH BURLINGTON PLANNING HISTORY ....................... 5 CHAPTER III COMPREHENSIVE PLAN GOALS.......................................... 7 CHAPTER IV POPULATION................................................................... 11 CHAPTER V LAND USE ....................................................................... 21 CHAPTER VI HOUSING ........................................................................ 34 CHAPTER VII CITY CENTER .................................................................. 49 CHAPTER VIII SOUTHEAST QUADRANT ............................................... 54 CHAPTER IX NATURAL RESOURCES ................................................... 82 CHAPTER X RECREATION.................................................................. 98 CHAPTER XI PATH SYSTEM ............................................................. 105 CHAPTER XII TRANSPORTATION....................................................... 113 CHAPTER XIII ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT ......................................... 129 CHAPTER XIV PUBLIC UTILITIES AND SERVICES................................ 138 CHAPTER XV SCHOOLS ..................................................................... 149 CHAPTER XVI ENERGY CONSERVATION ............................................ 157 CHAPTER XVII SOUTH BURLINGTON’S HISTORIC RESOURCES ........... 160 CHAPTER XVIII SOUTH BURLINGTON’S VISUAL DESIGN.................... 165 CHAPTER XIX IMPLEMENTATION.................................................... 170 REFERENCES....................................................................................... 178 APPENDIX A CITIZEN PARTICIPATION .......................................... 182 APPENDIX B BUILDING PERMIT DATA .............................................. 193 APPENDIX C RECREATION AREAS..................................................... 201 APPENDIX E SOUTHEAST QUADRANT GOALS BASED PLAN ............. 216 South Burlington Comprehensive Plan 1 South Burlington Comprehensive Plan Chapter 1 - Introduction CHAPTER I INTRODUCTION A. COMPREHENSIVE PLAN The Comprehensive Plan is a framework and guide for accomplishing community aspirations and intentions. It states goals and objectives and recommends courses of action for future growth and development of land, public facilities and services, and environmental protection. This plan presents a vision of what the City desires to be and look like in 20 years. It is based upon inventories, studies, analyses of current and projected trends, and most importantly, the desires of the community. The plan is implemented through various City ordinances and regulations, involvement with state and federal agencies, fiscal practices, and through the actions and lives of City residents and business owners. This plan recommends a number of actions and practices which should be undertaken by the City to help achieve the goals and objectives of the plan. It is important to note that these recommendations are not mandates, but are suggestions to help guide the operations of the City and its citizens. This plan and recommendations therein are intended to aid the City as it prepares and adopts regulations, prepares capital budgets and annual work programs, and forms citizen committees to study a particular concern. These recommendations shall be implemented only after considerable thought, discussion and analysis. B. AUTHORITY The authority to prepare and implement the comprehensive plan is granted to the City through the Vermont Planning and Development Act, Title 24 of the Vermont Statutes Annotated, Chapter 117. It is the purpose of the Act to "... encourage the appropriate development of all lands in this state... in a manner which will promote the public health, safety against fire, floods, explosions and other dangers ... and to provide means and methods for the municipalities and regions of this state to plan for the prevention, minimization and future elimination of such land development problems as may presently exist or which may be foreseen and to implement those plans when and where appropriate." C. PLANNING PROCESS South Burlington Comprehensive Plan 2 South Burlington Comprehensive Plan Chapter 1 - Introduction The development of this plan involved extensive participation between the citizens of South Burlington, City Officials, regional entities and the business community. It has evolved into its present form based largely on committee work, special studies, policy formulation, discussion and debate conducted over the last thirty-five years in the development and adoption of previous comprehensive plans. The process specific to developing this 2001 update to the comprehensive plan began with a unique city wide planning process involving hundreds of citizens. The City convened the "South Burlington Town Meeting Forum Project" on October 7, 1999 and hired professional facilitator Peter Cole to lead the series. Public forums were held on 10/21/99 and 12/18/99. Action teams discussed and produced action recommendations in the areas of Transportation/Land Use/Open Space, Housing, and Economic Development and Governance. Over 200 individuals attended the forum and more than 90 worked on the action teams. A final report was issued on January 27, 2000 and is available for public review. The Planning Commission, in developing the 2001 update, reviewed the 1996 plan and the work done by the Town Meeting Forum project. This process provided a good understanding of the challenging hard work involved in successfully carrying out the policies and desires as outlined on the plan. This review also gave the Commission a preliminary indication of whether the City's priorities may have changed over the last five years. In addition to the citizen participation forums, the Planning Commission has held numerous public meetings to review, discuss and debate the various sections of the plan. The drafting of these sections involved considerable input by City officials and the School District; various committees such as the Natural Resources Committee, Recreation Path Committee and Economic Development Committee; regional entities such as the Chittenden County Regional Planning Commission, Champlain Water District, Chittenden County Transit Authority and Chittenden Solid Waste District; and private organizations such as utility companies and the Greater Burlington Industrial Corporation. The extensive public input involved in developing the plan will be continued in its implementation. In addition, the Vermont Planning and Development Act requires the comprehensive plan to be updated South Burlington Comprehensive Plan 3 South Burlington Comprehensive Plan Chapter 1 - Introduction and readopted every five years. This is important to address change which is so prevalent in our lives. Even before the five year limit, the City will continue to reevaluate this plan and implementation process in order to best assure a quality living environment and future for the residents and visitors of South Burlington. D. CONSISTENCY WITH ADJOINING MUNICIPAL AND REGIONAL PLANS The development of the South Burlington Comprehensive Plan in- volved significant consideration of potential compatibility with the plans of adjoining municipalities and the region. The proposed plans of adjoining municipalities and the CCRPC were consulted at great length and discussions were held with the municipal and regional staff planners. A detailed comparison of the proposed plans of South Burlington and adjoining municipalities is provided in Appendix D. It appears that South Burlington's proposed 2001 Comprehensive Plan is compatible with the proposed plans of adjoining municipalities. As South Burlington implements its plan, adjoining municipalities shall be consulted and invited to comment on projects and studies which may affect an adjoining town or City. South Burlington's plan is for the most part consistent with the regional plan. The City's proposed land use and City Center/Mixed Use growth center concept is largely consistent with the region's proposed growth center concept. In addition, proposed transportation improvements are consistent as are the recommendations for provision of affordable housing and protection of watercourses, natural resources, and Lake Champlain. The CCRPC is currently updating and rewriting the Chittenden County Regional Plan. Following adoption of that plan, the City plan should be reviewed again to determine compliance. South Burlington Comprehensive Plan 4 South Burlington Comprehensive Plan Chapter 2 – South Burlington Planning History CHAPTER II SOUTH BURLINGTON PLANNING HISTORY In the face of urban pressures, changing land uses and expanding needs, South Burlington has attempted to plan and control development and the use of land and water. The first zoning ordinance was adopted in 1947. It zoned the town into residential, business and industrial districts. The Official Municipal Plan adopted in 1953 was the first such plan in the State of Vermont. It delineated new streets with services, schoolhouses, playgrounds and public buildings. The 1947 Zoning Ordinance was amended to implement the plan. In 1962, a Comprehensive Plan was drawn up by the firm of Sargent-Webster-Crenshaw and Foley, of Syracuse, New