The Urban Reserve was created in 1992 with the City’s purchase of
Waterfront property from Central Vermont Railway. The Urban Reserve, also
referred to as the "North 40" is located along the shore of the Lake
to the north of the former Moran Generating Plant and to the south of Texaco
Beach. It is approximately one-half mile long and 600 feet wide with the entire
eastern boundary of the property characterized by a steeply vegetated slope
rising roughly 100 feet to the residential neighborhood above. Refer to Appendix
F for a map.
The principle purposes for the Urban Reserve are threefold:
- To preserve a large natural area from unwanted commercial
development;
- To reserve the right for future generations to determine what
level of development should occur at this site; and
- To concentrate the efforts of Burlington’s development
activities within the Downtown Business District and the Waterfront
Commercial District east of Lake Street.
Approximately half the Urban Reserve—nearly all lands west of the Bikepath—are
filled lands and are therefore subject to the Public Trust Doctrine. In
addition, a portion of the funding secured for the City’s purchase of the
Urban Reserve came from a grant from the Vermont Housing and Conservation Fund.
With these moneys came a requirement for the creation of a conservation easement
requiring that "no less than 50% of the. . .property should be retained as
public open/recreation space or conservation land." Included as part of the
easement were the following elements:
- 8 acres of shoreline running the entire length of the
property to a width of at least 100 feet;
- A 1.5 acre natural area designated to protect an endangered
plant community;
- A public open recreation area reserved for the use and
enjoyment of the citizens of Burlington to consist of at least 13 acres. The
specific locale and extent of the public open recreation portion of the
easement was to be defined at a later date; but prior to construction of any
buildings or structures on the Urban Reserve.
In 1997, the Department of Planning & Zoning prepared a plan for the
interim use and management of the Urban Reserve over the next 10 to 15 years.
The result was the Interim Use and Stewardship Plan for the Urban Reserve,
which was adopted by the Planning Commission and City Council in October
1997. The plan outlines interim use and stewardship, long-term planning, site
remediation, public access and future policy and management for the Urban
Reserve and the Interim Development Area. Among the plan’s provisions are the
following:
- Maintain the property as passively-used and
publicly-accessible open space allowing for the continued re-naturalization
of the property. Additionally, consideration should be given to maintaining
remnants of the property’s railroad and industrial heritage. Particular
attention should be given to the brick building at 2 Lake Street and
remaining rail sidings and spurs.
- Existing dedicated uses should remain.
- No new development or dedicated uses on the property will be
considered, including harbor-related development.
- No additional fill will be placed on the property unless part
of an approved remediation plan.
- No changes to the natural regeneration of the vegetation and
wetlands will be made unless it is necessary as part of an approved
remediation or vegetation management plan, except in maintenance of existing
right-of-ways.
- Completion of a comprehensive master plan for the property,
including extensive public participation and review will be required prior
to any future development.
- Consideration should be given to the future sale of some or
all of the development rights to entities such as the Vermont or Lake
Champlain Land Trusts.
- Long-term planning for the property is the responsibility of
the Planning Commission with staff support from Planning , Parks and the
Community & Economic Development Office.
- Final adoption of any long-term plans for the property will
require City Council approval, and possibly be subject to consideration by
the voters.
- A long-term plan for the property will be initiated after the
completion of the 2006 Municipal Development Plan, and will be adopted not
more than 15 years from the adoption of this Plan.
- The City’s Brownfields Initiative within CEDO will be
responsible for the development and implementation of a comprehensive
environmental assessment of the entire property.
- Parks will be responsible for the development and
implementation of property maintenance and vegetation management
recommendations in consultation with the Conservation Board, CEDO and
Planning. As part of the development of a vegetation management plan for the
property, particular consideration should be given to maintaining views of
the lake and the New York Shoreline and issues regarding public safety and
security while allowing for the natural revegetation process.
- As long as they are responsible for the majority of traffic
entering the site, the Department of Public Works will be responsible for
controlling vehicular access to the property to prevent illegal dumping.
Parks will take responsibility for this function when DPW no longer uses the
site as heavily.
- Parks will be responsible for the removal of buildings and
structures at the "Astroline" site and other areas necessary.
- Consideration should be given as part of a Remediation Plan
to cutting out portions of the remaining seawall and adding rip-rap to
establish a more natural shoreline. Future harbor uses and the containment
of potentially contaminated sediments should be considered in any changes to
the seawall.
- Parks, in conjunction with DPW and Planning, will consider
opportunities to enhance public access to the Urban Reserve from adjacent
neighborhoods where feasible, including:
- Sherman Street extension
- Depot Street
- Possible public use of the trail from the Catholic Diocese property.
- The plan will be reviewed in 5 years and then as necessary
until a long-range plan has been prepared for the property in fulfillment of
the Waterfront Urban Renewal Plan.
The Interim Use and Stewardship Plan is included in its entirety and
is included in the Attachments. With the exception of the relocation of the Bike
Path within the Urban Reserve, it is referenced for the purposes of guiding
management of the Urban Reserve.
CEDO will remain the lead agency for all activities related to the Urban
Reserve.
Dept. of Parks & Recreation
Dept. of Parks & Recreation
A Waterfront Technical Committee will be established with staff from the
Department of Parks, Planning Public Works, City Attorney and chaired by CEDO.
This Committee will meet as needed to coordinate and plan waterfront
activities including the implementation of this Plan.
City Council Waterfront Committee
All City departments with responsibility for implementation must be given
the additional budgetary resources necessary to fulfill the objectives of this
plan.
Final policy decisions will be made by the Mayor and City Council after
review and recommendation by the City Council Waterfront Committee.
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