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Analysis of Impediments to Fair Housing Choice

Fair housing is an issue of growing concern in Burlington. The City's population is increasingly diverse, and regional market conditions have had an increasingly significant effect on fair housing choice both within the City and within the surrounding region.  The City of Burlington's recently published Analysis of Impediments to Fair Housing Choice identifies the key housing barriers facing people who are in protected classes. To view and/or print this document, you will need Adobe Acrobat Reader.  If you do not have a current copy of this free software, you can download it now. 

Previous studies have shown significant discrimination in both housing sales and rental opportunities.

Burlington Awarded $1.3 Million Housing Grant

The State of Vermont has awarded more than $1.3 million to the City of Burlington to purchase and rehabilitate foreclosed homes and convert a New North End building into affordable housing.

In a ceremony at City Hall, Lt. Governor Brian Dubie presented the $1,330,600 Neighborhood Stabilization Program grant, funded by the federal government in response to the mortgage foreclosure crisis that gripped the country last year, to city officials.

“This money will help create new housing as well as preserve much-needed affordable housing,” Dubie said. “And it will help the economy in the short-term by creating jobs for local contractors and others.”

“With this grant, Burlington will be able to convert the tragedy of home foreclosures into opportunities for new low-income families to become homeowners with affordable and stable financing,” Mayor Bob Kiss said. “Our partnership with the Champlain Housing Trust ensures that the homebuyers not only have affordable financing, but also the education and support to sustain their homes for future generations.”

About $1 million of the money will be used to acquire foreclosed single family homes that will be rehabilitated to code standards – including energy efficiency upgrades – and resold to eligible buyers.  The purchase price may be discounted in some cases up to 50% of the cost of the acquisition and rehab expenditures to make the homes affordable to households up to 120% of area median income. The subsidy will remain with each of the properties to provide affordable homeownership for years to come. The balance of the grant, $330,600, will be sub-granted to the Cathedral Square Corporation to assist in the redevelopment of the former Thayer School property.

This project aims to transform this large, vacant and under-utilized property in the heart of Burlington's New North End into a mixed-use residential and commercial community providing new affordable rental housing to both seniors and working Vermonters.

Earlier this summer, Governor Jim Douglas announced the state will sell the building, which currently houses a Department of Motor Vehicles office, to Cathedral Square.

“Having the NSP funds allows us to jump-start the creation of 100 new affordable housing units for seniors and low income families on the old Thayer School site on North Avenue,” Kiss said. “This represents an important step in the ongoing efforts to relieve a chronic housing shortage in the Burlington area.”

The state Department of Motor Vehicles now occupies only part of the Thayer School site, which consists of the original 1947 building and an addition put on in 1967.  The state acquired the school in 1982 after the city no longer needed it, and it housed both DMV and the Agency of Human Services, which later relocated to other offices in the Burlington area. Cathedral Square intends to demolish a portion of the vacant building and build up to 100 new units of senior affordable housing. The DMV will retain office space through a condominium purchase arrangement while the rest of the property will be a mixture of commercial and retail space.

Late last year the federal government authorized Vermont to distribute $19 million in federal Neighborhood Stabilization Program funds to be used to buy and resell foreclosed homes and to refurbish or even demolish other buildings as part of the response to the mortgage crisis. The state’s plan for distributing the funds called for providing $7 million to the Vermont Housing Finance Agency to buy and re-sell foreclosed homes to low- and moderate-income Vermonters. $3.1 million of the funds were made available to municipalities that were able administer their own such Neighborhood Stabilization plans. $8.9 million has gone to non-profit or private developers for specific projects, with $3 million of the money administered for housing funding by the Vermont Housing and Conservation Board and $5.9 million administered by the Vermont Community Development Program.

To view the complete plan visit: www.dhca.state.vt.us/VCDP/NSP.html. 

Attorney General and Burlington Landlord Work to Upgrade Rentals:  The State of Vermont has entered into an agreement with a Burlington area landlord to eliminate lead hazards in 17 rental properties.  [Read more (pdf)]

Champlain Housing Trust Wins World Habitat Award
Innovative, sustainable community land trust promoted as a global model
July 28, 2008

UN HABITAT will present the Champlain Housing Trust with a World Habitat Award at their global celebration of World Habitat Day. This year the celebration will take place in Luanda, Angola on October 6th.

Champlain Housing Trust Board and staff, flanked by Senator Bernie Sanders (I-VT), Representative Peter Welch (D-VT), current and former Burlington Mayors Bob Kiss and Peter Clavelle, Sarah Carpenter of VHFA and Gus Seelig of the Vermont Housing and Conservation Board, made the announcement On July 28 in front of a crowd on North Winooski Avenue in Burlington.

The Champlain Housing Trust, then known as the Burlington Community Land Trust, was initiated by the City of Burlington in 1984 as an experiment in slowing gentrification of urban neighborhoods and providing housing opportunity for low and moderate income households. The innovative shared equity program of homeownership developed at this time, where owners share the market appreciation of their homes with the next buyers when they sell, has been replicated through the country and in other parts of the world.

“When I was mayor I thought the concept of a community land trust made a whole lot of sense and could be very effective,” remembered Senator Sanders. “I never thought it would be as enormously successful as it has been and a model emulated throughout the world.” From those early days and to the present, Sanders has been a leader in pushing public policy to ensure everyone has access to housing. A National Housing Trust Fund, a priority for the Senator for the better part of a decade, is inching closer and closer to a reality.

UN HABITAT (www.unhabitat.org), the United Nations agency whose goal is promoting socially and environmentally shelter for all, endowed the Building and Social Housing Foundation (www.bshf.org) in 1985 to identify, recognize, study and share effective models of providing shelter worldwide. One award is given annually to a project from the global North, and one to the South, that provides practical and innovative solutions to current housing needs and problems. As part of the review, two adjudicators visited Vermont in April to meet staff, Board, residents and partners of the organization.

Brenda Torpy, CEO of the Housing Trust, added, "The Champlain Housing Trust is honored to be recognized among the best of the best, and we are thrilled to have this award to share with all of our partners that are so committed to permanently affordable housing. In this time where newspaper headlines scream about the housing slump, sub-prime mortgages, foreclosures, and now Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, the Housing Trust is a true success story.” Torpy was a founder of the Housing Trust and joined the staff in 1991.

“This award is a terrific honor for the Champlain Housing Trust, which has long been known around Vermont and across the country as a model of how affordable housing should work,” said Representative Welch. “I look forward to working with the Champlain Housing Trust to increase housing affordability and availability for Vermonters.” U.S. Senator Patrick Leahy (D-VT), who had a scheduling conflict Monday morning, sent along his congratulations. “During the past two decades, the Champlain Housing Trust has been looked to by more and more communities as a model in creating affordable and safe homes for a community's residents," he said. Leahy has served on the U.S. delegation to the UN and sponsors the U.S. contribution to the UN HABITAT budget each year as the chairman of the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on State Department and Foreign Appropriations. “The UN HABITAT award is a great recognition for Brenda Torpy and the Champlain Housing Trust. And more importantly, it will highlight this innovative model as an option for thousands of communities across the globe,” he added.

The group gathered at the former Vermont Transit Bus Barns, a site of a significant urban redevelopment project the organization completed in 2001. The effort combined reclaiming brownfields, rehabilitation and preservation of existing historic structures, new construction and ultimately the creation of 25 permanently affordable apartments and several commercial spaces, including the Good News Garage.

The Champlain Housing Trust is a community land trust that supports strong, vital communities in northwest Vermont through the development and stewardship of permanently affordable homes and community assets. Over 2,100 families and individuals live in Housing Trust homes. In 2007, the organization’s efforts resulted in 117 new homebuyers, amounting to almost $20,000,000 in mortgage commitments. In addition to mortgages, the Housing Trust is leveraging a $59.4 million investment in real estate development, with a pipeline that will create or preserve 320 permanently affordable apartments and owner-occupied homes in the next eighteen months.

Free EMP Classes

The City of Burlington Lead Program will hold Essential Maintenance Practices (EMP) Training classes on:

• Wednesday, September 15, 2010 (Class FULL) at Contois Auditorium, Burlington City Hall from 5-9 PM
• Wednesday, October 20, 2010 at Contois Auditorium, Burlington City Hall from 5-9 PM

Call the Burlington Lead Program to register at 802·865·LEAD (5323) or visit www.leadsafevermont.org.

Information covered in the EMP class includes the requirements of Vermont's lead paint law and related federal regulations, the health effects of lead in children and adults, lead-safe work practices and maintenance procedures, and specialized cleaning techniques and equipment for removing lead-contaminated dust. Vermont Law requires that landlords take the EMP Class. Click here to view a printable PDF version of the EMP Manual. Taking the class also offers further protection from prosecution.

City of Burlington Receives Housing Award

The City of Burlington’s Community & Economic Development Office (CEDO) was recently given the “Welcome to the Neighborhood Award” by the Vermont Housing & Conservation Board (VHCB). The award, which was received by CEDO Director Michael Monte and Housing Director Brian Pine, was presented at a Montpelier conference celebrating the VHCB’s 20th anniversary.

The City was recognized “for developing initiatives and programs to promote permanently affordable housing, demonstrating leadership in policy development and implementation, and for welcoming workers from all sectors of our economy.” While there’s more work to do in order to guarantee access to safe, decent and affordable housing for everyone, we should be proud of our efforts and our results. This recognition by VHCB confirms a belief that local government can make a real difference in the lives of people.

Browns Court Mixed-Income Rental Housing Project

The City Council unanimously endorsed converting the City-owned parking lot located on Browns Court and King Street into mixed-income rental housing. This culminates many years of consideration for making better use of this prime piece of downtown real estate. Both the City Council and the administration are committed to seeing this project come to fruition with minimal impact on public parking.

CEDO issued a Request For Qualifications (RFQ) on May 14 inviting developers to submit letters by June 4th detailing their experience, expertise and financial capacity to undertake a major development project. CEDO received letters from six (6) interested developers.  We will review the letters and make a determination regarding a qualified developer by the end of July 2007.

For more information, email Brian Pine at bpine@ci.burlington.vt.us.

Champlain Housing Trust and Housing Vermont Announce Preservation of Twenty-Eight Perpetually Affordable Apartments in Burlington

The grand opening also coincided with the kick-off of National NeighborWorks® Week, a week long series of events in over 200 communities across the country to recognize the accomplishments of organizations and efforts of volunteers actively involved in developing and maintaining affordable housing.

“It is remarkable what can be done when all of these people and organizations pull together to make neighborhoods livable,” said Mia Joiner-Moore of NeighborWorks® America’s New England Office in Boston. NeighborWorks® America provided funding for the project.

Of the six buildings, the property at the corner of North and Rose Streets needed the most significant rehabilitation. It has eleven studio and one-bedroom apartments all with new wood floors, appliances and fresh paint. Also included in the scattered site project is the Callahan Building built in 1835 and located at 33 North Street, the namesake for the project, and four former cooperative housing buildings on Intervale Avenue and Front Streets. Lakewind Construction did the construction work.

Burlington Mayor Bob Kiss explained how important nonprofit partners like the Champlain Housing Trust are to the City’s efforts to invest in the Old North End. “Burlington has directed over $6 million to revitalize the North Street corridor, and seeing this type of rehabilitation project follow is a testament to the strength of our community. We are thrilled to have supported this project.” In addition to over $660,000 in deferred loans, the City also provided grant support through the Burlington Housing Trust Fund, and the City’s Lead Program helped fund the remediation of lead paint in the properties.

Other financing partners for the six building project included the Vermont Housing and Conservation Board and the Chittenden Trust Company, which successfully applied to the Federal Home Loan Bank of Boston’s Affordable Housing Program. Liz Nickerson of FHLBB attended the celebration and described the subsidized loan made through the Chittenden Trust Company and a $130,000 grant. “This is exactly the type of housing preservation we want to invest in with our partners,” Nickerson said. “It is great to see this transformation.”

Gus Seelig, of VHCB, echoed those comments. “VHCB has long supported efforts to preserve and maintain the integrity of the neighborhoods of the Old North End. This was a challenging project with six occupied buildings, and it is obviously a success.” VHCB supports affordable housing, and the conservation of agricultural land, natural areas and historic properties throughout the state, and is marking their 20th anniversary on June 11 with a service day just down the street at another of the Champlain Housing Trust’s properties.

In addition to providing development assistance, Housing Vermont raised over $2.5 million in tax credit equity through its Green Mountain Housing Equity Fund. The ten state, regional and national investors in the Fund provided nearly 60% of the project’s total development cost of $4.4 million. Andy Broderick, President of Housing Vermont said, “This type of investment and focus in existing neighborhoods is not only critical to keeping Vermont and Burlington special, but it also represents smart public policy. We are happy to be a partner in this project.”

The Vermont Housing Finance Agency awarded Housing Vermont tax credits. Sarah Carpenter, Executive Director of VHFA noted, “It takes a lot of effort, commitment and vision from a lot of different partners on the local, state, regional and national levels. It isn’t easy to do this work, but it has never been more important.”

The Citizens Bank provided construction financing and the Burlington Electric Department and Vermont Gas provided energy efficiency technical assistance and grant funds.

“We have a long history of preserving safe and decent homes for people to live in this neighborhood, and it is heartening to see such a change over the last twenty-plus years,” added Brenda Torpy, CEO of the Champlain Housing Trust. “There is more work to be done, but with friends like these gathered today I’m convinced we will succeed.”

City Council Committee Considers Making Some Condo Conversions Easier

As a way to increase the rate of homeownership in the Old North End and King Street neighborhoods, the City has drafted an amendment to its Condo Conversion Ordinance. As proposed, the amendment would exempt from the City's ordinance condo conversions of rental properties with 10 or fewer apartments located in areas with less than 50% homeownership rates. In order to qualify for the exemption, no less than 25% of the condos must be perpetually affordable to households at 80% of HUD area median income. For the full text of the proposed ordinance amendment, click here. (NOTE: If you get a message asking for a password, click Cancel.) The City Council Ordinance Committee voted in favor of this amendment on Wednesday, December 20, 2006, and it will be taken up at a City Council meeting in January.

City Council Adopts Housing Super Committee Report and Recommendations
March 27, 2006

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 held in the fall of 2005, here.

HUD RECOGNIZES BURLINGTON FOR INCREASING ACCESS TO AFFORDABLE HOUSING:  Burlington cited as a model for removing regulatory barriers that drive up housing costs
July 20, 2005

WASHINGTON - They are teachers, police officers, nurses, firefighters and returning veterans-the sort of people anyone would be happy to call a neighbor. In some communities, however, excessive regulations are creating barriers that artificially drive up housing costs on working families. Today, the Department of Housing and Urban Development acknowledged Burlington for its efforts in breaking down these barriers and creating a more inclusive environment for families struggling to afford decent homes.

As more Americans become homeowners, rising housing costs are pricing out millions of hard-working families who hope to find homes close to their jobs and within their budgets. Often, regulations that drive up the cost of housing are to blame.

HUD is taking a fresh look at these barriers to affordable housing with its America’s Affordable Communities Initiative. This initiative is designed to combat the outdated, excessive and duplicative regulations that significantly increase the cost and limit the supply of affordable housing and is motivating communities like Burlington to take a look at their housing regulations and determine which ones no longer serve a valid public purpose.

“We know that regulatory barriers can increase housing costs by as much as 35 percent, making it impossible for many working families to live in the cities where we work,” said HUD Secretary Alphonso Jackson. “Other communities around the country can learn from Burlington’s efforts to open more doors for the very people who should be our neighbors.”

Burlington has adopted Housing Replacement Ordinance that does not allow conversion of housing to other uses without one-for-one replacement or payment into a Housing Trust Fund.

Burlington's Inclusionary Zoning Ordinance mandates that affordable housing be included in all new developments of five (5) units or more or in adaptive reuse or conversion of a nonresidential to a residential use of ten (10) or more units. In rental developments, 15% of the units must be designated as inclusionary; 25% in the waterfront zone. In units for sale, if all units are sold to buyers at 80% or less median income, there is no inclusionary provision. The percentage rises as units become less affordable.

Burlington also offers developers a Density Bonus to give developers incentives to build more dwelling units per acre and use more lot coverage. Developers also have an Off-Site-Option allowing them to build inclusionary units on a different site to meet the requirements.

Barriers being targeted by HUD include public statutes, ordinances, regulations, fees, processes and procedures that significantly restrict the development of affordable housing without providing a commensurate health or safety benefit. These barriers can effectively exclude working individuals from living in the communities where they work. In addition, senior citizens often find it impossible to locate suitable homes or apartments near their adult children, and young families are unable to find a home in the communities where they were raised.

By recognizing communities like Burlington, HUD hopes to encourage others around the country to reexamine their own regulatory climate and work closely with builders and urban planners to find creative solutions to allow for the development of more affordable housing.

Carbon Monoxide Detector Ordinance

The Ordinance Committee has voted out a proposal that mirrors state law, but allows plug-in units in lieu of hard-wired units.  For more information, contact Brian Pine at 802·865·7232.

Affordable Housing on the Waterfront

This year, new waterfront homes became available for 40 families and individuals from diverse backgrounds – many of whom have been priced out of the housing market and never dreamed of living here on the shore of beautiful Lake Champlain. This project is a model of sustainable development in a city recognized internationally for leading the way toward a more sustainable future. A brief history illustrates how an engaged citizenry and activist municipal government laid the foundation for the project.

After a robust public process, zoning was amended in the 1980s to allow and encourage new housing development on waterfront land east of Lake Street.  The City acquired the land from the Central Vermont Railway for the sole purpose of encouraging mixed-income housing. Following an engaged community planning processes, Burlington voters approved waterfront revitalization plans in 1990 and again in 1999, both of which embraced the concept of a mixed-use and mixed-income waterfront.

Due to a groundswell of grassroots support for affordable housing, the City Council adopted an Inclusionary Zoning ordinance that required twenty-five percent (25%) of all new housing units created in a waterfront zoning district be perpetually affordable.

Over the years, numerous obstacles prevented a feasible affordable housing project from coming to fruition. The City twice solicited development proposals from the private sector, but the risks and hurdles overwhelmed even the most sophisticated developers.

In February 2001, after a competitive process, the City Council voted to select the Burlington Community Land Trust as the housing developer for Depot Street Triangle. The City’s Brownfields Program made a $35,000 grant of EPA funds to conduct Environmental Site Assessments. The contamination was remediated and the site deemed safe for human health.

The City secured approximately $850,000 for infrastructure improvements to extend Lake Street and address longstanding storm-water run-off issues. This project received the equivalent of the City’s entire annual allocation of federal HOME funds, together with one of the largest City Housing Trust Fund grants ever. The annual ground lease payments are considerably below market rates. Thanks to Senator Leahy’s efforts, the project won an $800,000 Special Purpose HUD grant. The City also spent $110,000 to purchase two-tenths of an acre to expand the developable area of the site.

Housing Vermont and the Burlington Community Land Trust went beyond just creating affordable housing with this development – they incorporated health and environmental concerns into the design and construction. They pioneered a model for how to build affordable housing in a sustainable manner that also creates ongoing operating efficiencies to help keep the housing perpetually affordable.

In addition to the environmental benefits of redeveloping a Brownfield, the developers undertook measures to control erosion and treat storm water to minimize impact on nearby Lake Champlain. The City had been unable to dedicate sufficient funds to address a storm-water run-off problem that was undermining two streets, a steep slope and the water quality of Lake Champlain. This project provided the capital to rectify the City’s storm water problem at this site.

The developers and their team worked collaboratively with the City’s municipal electric utility to maximize energy efficiency well beyond the requirements of the code. This building exceeds all EPA Energy Star standards for efficiency and will realize annual savings of tens of thousands of dollars. Reduced flow toilets, showers and faucets will conserve water and minimize the operating expense associated with water usage. The use of “cement board” siding, high quality interior finishes and other durable materials will further reduce maintenance costs. An integral component of the energy efficiency measures used in this building is the attention to moisture control through proper ventilation.

The Waterfront Housing project is the first LEED certified residential project in the state of Vermont.  It won the "Show us You're Green" award from the American Institute of Architects. Additionally, Waterfront has been honored with a Housing Endorsement from the Vermont Smart Growth Collaborative; Vermont Governor's Award for Environmental Excellence; and Excellence in Comprehensive Building Design from Efficiency Vermont.

Waterfront Housing is also under review for a smart growth award from the U.S. EPA and is one of the 10 finalists in the rental housing category of The Home Depot Foundation's Inaugural Awards of Excellence For Affordable Housing Built Responsibly.