DRB approves Hinesburg Center Phase II Subdivision/PUD

By Gail Callahan

The path to build a large-scale project’s second phase became smoother after Hinesburg’s Development Review Board (DRB) approved Hinesburg Center Phase II’s subdivision/Planned- Unit Development (PUD).

The seven-member board’s decision was drafted Monday, April 27 and made public two days later. The project’s second phase consists of a multi-lot, mixed-use plan on land owned by David Lyman, spanning the village and agricultural zoning districts.

Hinesburg Center Phase I falls east of the proposed plan, and features the already operational Kinney Drugs, the Bristol Bakery, and six residential structures still to be built.

During a telephone interview Monday, May 4, Hinesburg Zoning Administrator Peter Erb said he hasn’t heard of any local residents planning to appeal the board’s decision (appeals must be made within 30 days after a board releases its decision).

Developer Brett Grabowski is optimistic no challenges will come up. “This area is where the town, and the village, to some extent, wants to see development. We’re all trying to keep development out of the cornfields.”

Grabowski said the project must still under go Act 250 review and will continue additional local probing by municipal panels. He said there is no established timeline to start construction on the project’s second phase, and that “a great deal of engineering work” still must take place.

The DRB also is requiring Hinesburg Center Phase II developers to comply with several conditions, including performing an engineering analysis on a proposed underground parking site, clearly showing water allocation and wastewater treatment plans, and identification of affordable housing units (working with Hinesburg’s Affordable Housing committee and Champlain Housing Trust).

As a move to encourage a proposed 69 units, the project is slated to include density bonuses, totaling 90 percent. The “points” for this element were incorporated for housing by nearly doubling units set aside for “perpetually” affordable housing from five to nine, according to the Planning and Zoning Department.

Along with discussion on the need for affordable housing, water capacity and treatment of storm water are two issues taking center stage in Hinesburg. In the fall, several new wells are slated to come online, but aren’t expected to supply the necessary amount of water for many of the larger projects currently under the microscope of local review. In November, Hinesburg residents approved a $1.5M bond to pay for increased water capacity and a treatment facility for the municipal water system.

The board also requires developers Mike Buscher and Grabowski to show that the project has “adequate” water supply and that wastewater capacity is available.