Source: Burlington Free Press, May 19, 2010
By John Briggs
“Burlington city councilors have backed down from their request of a week ago to have state authorities reexamine a proposed halfway house for 20 newly released convicts on Elmwood Avenue. The city signed an agreement Tuesday allowing the project to move forward.
The City Council last week directed the city attorney to ask the Act 250 District IV Commission to consider the halfway house’s effects on city services.
But following an executive-session briefing by City Attorney Ken Schatz that lasted until 11:30 p.m. Monday, the council withdrew its motion to the commission and authorized the city to sign a settlement agreement with Phoenix House, the group that will run the halfway house, and the Burlington Housing Authority, which owns the building.
The Tuesday agreement, Schatz said, “was entered to end and avoid any litigation.”
Following the council vote May 10, Rachel Batterson, fair housing specialist with Vermont Legal Aid, warned the city could face discrimination lawsuits for attempting to prevent the location of “disabled” individuals in the Elmwood Avenue house. Paul Dettman, Burlington Housing Authority director, expressed similar views.
The city attorney’s office prepared an opinion on the legal issues, but Schatz said that opinion, conveyed Monday to the council, will not be made public.
The Burlington Business Association and the Church Street Marketplace Commission chairman had argued before the May 10 vote that the influx of 20 more individuals in need of social service could overstress an already overextended support system in Burlington. They said the new individuals could negatively affect downtown businesses.
A sizeable crowd turned out for the council meeting Monday to denounce the decision to re-examine the Act 250 permit as discriminatory.
Mayor Bob Kiss has supported the Phoenix House project and said in a news release Tuesday the settlement “was pursued and recommended by the administration.”
The memorandum of understanding, in addition to requiring the city to withdraw its challenge to the project, has several stipulations…”
For full story: Council withdraws Phoenix House request
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