Recommendations

C. Quality of Life: Neighborhoods, Citizen Involvement and Public Safety

"The ideal community is one that provides a safe physical environment with street lights, sidewalks, and a visible police force. It is a place where people feel safe, a place where people do not hide behind locked doors after 6:00 p.m., and where children can walk, bike, and skate safely in their neighborhoods. "Family-friendliness" means a low crime rate, high public safety standards, and a community-oriented police force."
-The Makings of a Family-Friendly City and Municipal Government's Role, National League of Cities

Broadly, all City neighborhoods should be ones that are safe and welcoming for families with children. The City should embrace the diversity of its residents and the resources of its institutions of higher education while ensuring that families want to live and raise their children here.

WHAT'S ALREADY WORKING:

In resident surveys conducted by the Community Outreach Partnership Center in 2000, 80% of Old North End residents who said they had seen changes on their block over the last 4 to 5 years cited positive changes - most commonly in things such as a greater sense of community; less crime, fighting, drugs, and noise; and more support from landlords, community groups, city services, and police. The long-term stability of homeownership in the City also evidences a community where people put down deep roots.

Specifically, there is a high level of activity currently underway in the area of Neighborhoods, Citizen Involvement and Public Safety. The City has undertaken a number of initiatives - some in partnership with the University of Vermont - to improve quality of life in residential neighborhoods, including:

1. Code Enforcement: 

• Spring Move out 
• Weekly City cleanups with Department Of Corrections crews 
• Zoning enforcement for overcrowding and green-space issues; discussions with landlords and notices citing violations 
• Education and presentations on code violations to public and college students annually · Working to increase fine for noise violation 
• Working to streamline tickets for green space violations 
• Work with City Attorney's Office to file public nuisance actions when tickets and other enforcement actions fail to stop behavior or blighted conditions 
• Participation in multi-agency homeless/transient work group 
• New coordinated inspection program with public housing authorities 
• Participation with Downtown Action Group for environmental cleanups and graffiti removal in center city neighborhood

2. Problem Properties Group: 

• Multi-agency enforcement projects for cases with recurring negative impacts to community. This group is now in the ONE, South End, and NAP/Ward 1 areas targeting certain households that are breaking code, disturbance, crime and noise violations. 
• Notification to landlords of recurring violations at properties 
• Living room meetings with landlords and tenants to inform and educate both parties on ordinances and neighborly communication

3. Police Enforcement: 

• The City will strengthen its Noise Ordinance, increasing fines, particularly for violations involving noisy house parties. 
• For the first time, police officers from UVM and the City will conduct joint patrols to address off-campus student behavior. Teams of officers will patrol targeted neighborhoods on high-activity nights, especially in early Fall and late Spring. 
• Police staff now assigned long term to geographic locations in City to enhance knowledge and response to neighborhood conditions 
• "START" program is periodic multi-agency enforcement project in community for DUI violations, including student neighborhoods 
• Increasing use of foot patrols and bike patrols in targeted neighborhoods for special projects 
• Extended use of Beach and Parks patrol in targeted areas 
• North Street "Storefront" project with Police and Department of Corrections now provides direct contact for citizens for a variety of safety services

4. Burlington Neighborhood Project (BNP): 

• New work-study student hired to act as a community-organizing liaison with VISTA's in student neighborhoods to connect them with long-term residents and Street Associations. 
• Leadership development series to include training on landlord and tenant responsibilities and commitments. 
• Grant program for neighborhood improvement projects 
• Buell Street Association working to bridge the gap between students and residents 
• Scoop the Poop campaign

5. Neighborhood Walks: 

• Walks from 12 p.m. to 2 a.m. have occurred in the Neighborhood Action Project and Ward 6 this year.

6. Community Justice Center (CJC): 

• Restorative Justice Panels 
• Youth Programs 
• First Response Program for victims of property crime, including graffiti. 
• Neighborhood Impact Panels to hear cases for noise violations 
• Youth worker with increasing focus on juvenile and youth impacts in neighborhoods

7. Neighborhood Planning Assemblies (NPAs): 

• Students now serving on NPA Steering Committees 
• Outreach to attract new members through special events such as Neighborhood Improvement Night 
• Inviting City Departments and institutions to share information on their programs and services 
• Addressing pressing issues and concerns that affect quality of life in neighborhoods

8. Community Support Program (CSP): 

• Works to resolve disputes in neighborhoods 
• BPD refers cases to the CSP, which then intervenes, initiating and assisting negotiations through mediation, conciliation, and other problem-solving methods. 
• The CSP also receives direct calls from residents in conflict. 
• Works closely with UVM's Office of Conflict Resolution

9. Spring Move Out Recycle Day Initiative: 

• In the spring, students bring their recyclable clothes, food, and household items to a designated spot on Isham Street where Code Enforcement, non-profits and residents pick them up for free 
• Student's Guide to Moving Out of Burlington

10. Community Based Action Team (CBAT): 

• Annual intensive cleanup by city staff in highly impacted neighborhoods 
• Representatives from Fire, Police, Code, Parks, BED and others meet neighbors right in neighborhood to communicate about issues

11. Traffic Calming: 

• CEDO and DPW staff currently re-writing the Traffic Calming Policy
• Bicycle lanes, crosswalks and speed humps installed in many locations

12. Neighborhood Organizing 

• Neighborhood Night of Success annual event demonstrating and communicating successful initiatives for preserving and protecting neighborhood quality of life 
• Neighborhood Charter project for formalizing and utilizing neighborhood associations

13. Others 

• Legacy Project and Champlain Initiative implementation projects · Zoning ordinance rewrite project 
• Champlain College parking impact project

14. Maintain and augment rental rehabilitation program 

• The City will continue to operate and attempt to augment the resources for RePAIR - the rehabilitation program for privately owned rental housing.

15. Robert Wood Johnson Foundation's "A Matter of Degree" (AMOD) Grant: 

• Grant aimed at reducing alcohol abuse among college students 16. Provide funding to landlord and tenant services 
• the City provides funding for information and referral services for both landlords and tenants - the contract for 2003 will be modified to include an emphasis on improving lease provisions regarding City ordinances for noise, solid waste and other nuisance abatement.

17. Joint Efforts Between UVM and the Burlington Police Department 

1. Directed patrols 
2. Working on streamlined reporting of violations between agencies

18. Office of Conflict Resolution (OCR): 

• Mediation between students and neighbors 
• Improve the relationship and enhance the communication between students and their neighbors 
• Inform students about their rights and responsibilities as members of the Burlington community.

19. Housing: 

• 2000 UVM-City Agreement to build 400 new beds on campus

20. Transportation: 

• Good Neighbor Program Shuttle Pass for non-students residents 
• CAT now provides service between campus and downtown until 2:30 am on Thurs, Fri, Sat nights

21. Community Coalition: 

• Established by Student Government Assoc. to bring together City officials, staff, and students to create action plans to address quality of life issues 
• Off Campus Living Workshops: Students, UVM's City Relations Office, Greek Affairs, and Residential Life sponsor workshops each academic year that focus on the rights and responsibilities of being a Burlington resident

22. Community Outreach Partnership Center: 

• Partnership center and neighborhood studies

23. UVM-City Agreement Process for Off-Campus-Student Behavior: 

• UVM and the city signed an agreement in 2000 that outlined a university process for off-campus students who receive city violations 
• Parental notification of alcohol and drug violations

24. Neighbor Impacts Group: 

• The Division of Student Affairs convened this group to discuss how the university can work more effectively with the city in neighborhoods

25. Neighborhood Handbook: 

• Joint effort of the University of Vermont and the City of Burlington to provide all Burlington residents with a resource that they can use to create peace in their neighborhoods and in their lives

26. Other Actions 

• UVM will expand its follow-up program to include an immediate contact with every student receiving a quality-of-life-related citation, rather than waiting for that violation to be adjudicated. UVM will place each student on notice that administrators are aware of a citation's issuance and that university disciplinary action may follow. 
• To ensure the effectiveness of this policy, the City will improve its police protocols to provide UVM with the information it needs to hold students accountable for their behavior. 
• Once citations are adjudicated, UVM will initiate disciplinary action when appropriate within its code of student conduct. The outcomes of disciplinary proceedings may range from a warning letter to dismissal from the university. 
• UVM will also use other means to deal with problem behavior, including early and direct intervention with "problem houses" and notification of parents for student alcohol and drug-related violations. 
• All UVM students will receive a direct communication from the university president regarding their responsibilities both on- and off-campus, and the serious consequences of problem behaviors.

27. City Welcome Packet: 

• Information on City departments, voting, transportation, schools and civic participation sent to new Burlington residents, including students

28. The Cat's Tale: 

• Student handbook containing a living-off-campus section that includes information on city ordinances, state statutes, tenant rights, and how to be a good neighbor

WHAT COULD BE ADDED:

In addition to these activities, the City should:

1. Encourage conversion of student rental properties back to owner-occupancy 

• The City is partnering with the Burlington Community Land Trust to focus some resources on the area west of Willard, north of Pearl, south of North Street, East of Union. 
• The partners are in the process of exploring a program designed to buy rental properties in this area and convert them back to owner-occupancy. 
• After assessing the housing and land use characteristics and market conditions of this neighborhood, the partners will design a program to encourage the re-conversion of rental properties back to owner-occupied homes.

2. Explore developing signage indicating spaces/places throughout the City for young children.

3. Increase the number of areas where families without backyards can play with young children.

4. Enhance City Hall Park as a child/family-friendly place: 

• Fridays in the Park 
• Lending strollers/push trikes program 
• Saturday morning/Farmer's Market activities for young children 
• Park renovation 
• Children's garden 
• Low maze of plantings 
• Low hillocks

4. Improve resources for unsupervised children, especially between the hours of 3 to 7 p.m. - including neighborhood-based recreation programs, parenting classes and mediation programs.

5. Make sure the scale of land use patterns encourages walking (including safe paths for children walking to school). 

• Prepare a plan for the development of a network of connecting mid-block pathways within the downtown and into adjacent neighborhoods, and add these corridors to the City's Official Map. 
• Provide safe routes and transportation alternatives for children to the public schools, especially those for pedestrians and bikes.

6. Encourage "neighborhood centers" where families can walk to access centralized services and where families want to gather to socialize.

Page last updated November 15, 2002