Will interim zoning extend?

The deadline for interim zoning in South Burlington looms ahead, casting a shadow of uncertainty for members of city council, the planning commission and the public. Will the city extend the May 13 deadline another six months, or will the development pause finally end?

At a of couple meetings last month, city councilors discussed the predicament and voted to hold a public hearing on May 3, before the deadline, to consider renewal. While some councilors expressed unease at the prospect of renewing the development halt longer, they seemed to soften towards the idea when discussed at a follow-up special meeting March 29.

The deadline comes two years and six months since the council enacted interim zoning in November 2018, tasking the planning commission with revising city regulations to better harmonize with the comprehensive plan. Under that umbrella falls the environmental protection standards, planned unit developments and the city master plan.

The commission initially set a nine-month schedule, but an overhaul of the environmental protection standards, coupled with a summer lost to the pandemic, has pushed their schedule further and further out. According to planning and zoning director Paul Conner, interim zoning cannot be extended beyond November 2021 — the three-year mark — although, some loopholes related to COVID-19 may offer an extension.

A draft for nearly all updated pieces has been completed, pending further work on planned unit development types, planning commission chair Jessica Louisos told city councilors in February. She initially suggested the commission might be ready to wrap up their work by early spring.

But at a March 15 city council meeting, chair Helen Riehle noted that the commission had asked for another extension beyond May.

Councilor Meaghan Emery initially expressed strong apprehension for renewing interim zoning again, since the standstill has lasted much longer than the city ever anticipated, she said.

Emery told fellow councilors that she would “have to be convinced to extend” beyond the two years and six months mark.

At the special meeting March 29, Emery walked back her position. “I’ve been swayed,” she said, following discussion with members of the planning commission. She suggested “putting a pin” in the commission’s environmental protection standards work, which Riehle described as “signed, sealed and delivered,” to finish overhauling the city’s planned unit development regulations.

Another option could be to not extend interim zoning, publish the environmental protection standards and allow the commission to continue updating the planned unit developments outside of interim zoning.

“Do we run any greater risk if the commission does the PUDs after interim zoning? What are the downsides?” asked city councilor Tom Chittenden.

Based on what she’s heard from the community, Riehle explained that the push and pull comes down to differing views on development: one party is interested in preserving environmental protections as the top priority, she said, and the other is interested in using the regulations to guide development through planned unit developments.

“One group will win, one group might lose,” said Riehle. “If you package them together, maybe we make everybody unhappy.” But at least equally unhappy.

The council will officially decide whether to extend on May 3.