Housing is a basic part of the fabric of our community.
The Community & Economic Development Office provides support
to residents and landlords in a number of ways: through grants,
loans, and assistance for
buying
homes, building affordable housing, doing
home
improvement and
accessibility
projects, and improving
apartment buildings. We have a new program working to make housing
safe for our children by
reducing lead paint hazards, a major health risk to children
under 6. And finally, we provide support to the City’s homeless
shelters for those times when there’s no place else to go.
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The City recognizes that the free market for housing is
often not a fair market for low and moderate income residents.
Left unchecked, market forces will allow housing to deteriorate,
push people from their homes and leave others with no homes
at all. The City has enacted a variety of housing ordinances
to provide a counterbalance (such as
inclusionary zoning
and
housing replacement
(pdf)) and supports community-based nonprofit
housing developers in developing affordable rental housing
and housing for the most vulnerable City residents. The
City has been very successful in removing regulatory
barriers to affordable housing. This Questionnaire for HUD's
Initiative on Removal of Regulatory Barriers is available as
a printable PDF
version. For this version, you will need
Adobe
Acrobat Reader. If you do not have a current copy of this free
software, you can download
it now.
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Housing is the essence of Burlington's neighborhoods. Support
for affordable housing allows elders to remain in the homes
and neighborhoods they know. Homebuyer purchase and rehabilitation
programs allow the next generation of residents to own and
modernize older homes.
Affordable housing is a balance to economic development,
ensuring that workers can find housing and that rising prices
don't displace residents. And affordable housing development
is a tool in redeveloping distressed neighborhoods, preventing
loss of value in surrounding properties.
In 2005,
City Council identified affordable housing as one of
its top three priorities and began looking
at local initiatives to address the housing crisis. A "Super
Committee on Housing," made up of four City Councilors (Phil Fiermonte
and Tim Ashe from Ward 3; Kurt Wright from Ward 4; and
Carmen George from Ward 7) was charged with studying a number
of issues related to affordable housing and developing
recommendations for the full Burlington City Council to
consider. |
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At its March 27, 2006 meeting, Burlington City
Council adopted the report and recommendations of the Housing
Super Committee. You can read the report and
recommendations, together with the minutes from the three public
hearings,
here.
Brian Pine, Assistant Director for Housing & Neighborhood
Revitalization
802·865·7232
Todd Rawlings, Housing Program Coordinator
802·652·4209
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Buy a Home
Fix My Apartment Building
Fix My House
Get Help
with Lead Paint
Paint My House
Get a Wheelchair Ramp or . . .
See What's Happening with the
Lead Safety Ordinance |
