Development

From the Business & Workforce Development Office:

A new kiosk made its way to Burlington’s City Hall Park from Brooklyn, New York earlier this summer. The food and beverage kiosk, designed by RENZ + OEI and operated by Sherpa Foods - Himalayan D’Lite, originally included in the design for the reconstruction of City Hall Park in 2020 concluded this month. A grand opening celebration will take place on Wednesday, August 14th at 12 noon in City Hall Park. Mayor Emma Mulvaney-Stanak and other project partners will be in attendance.

From FreeHer VT:

We are calling on community members to join us on Monday August 12 from 11:00 AM to 1:00 PM in Burlington for a noise demonstration calling on local architects to drop out of designing a new women's prison in Vermont!

In these times of suffering, the state should be extremely cautious about how they allocate community resources. Yet, there has been no indication of postponing or canceling the upcoming women’s prison project, which is currently estimated to cost over $70 million. In fact, the Department of Corrections plans to announce the site of the new women’s prison before the end of the summer! In response, FreeHer is preparing to take action so please stay tuned and be ready to plug in!

The first step we are taking is to urge the subcontractor, Freeman French Freeman, to drop the contract! FFF is the local architectural firm contracted to design the women's prison. They have been unresponsive to our communications and requests for meetings, so we are going to make some noise outside of their office in Burlington!

Join us to pressure Freeman French Freeman to DROP THE CONTRACT.

We will be protesting outside Freeman French Freeman on August 12th from 11am-1pm, the local architectural firm contracted to design the new prison, to urge them to withdraw from the project. We will have speakers, music, activities, and more. Please bring pots, pans, instruments, or any noise makers you'd like. 

For more information visit: www.freehercampaign.org/vermont

For more information on the current procedures and meeting dates for the Burlington Development Review Board, please visit burlingtonvt.gov/DPI/DRB/Agendas.

From the Town of Essex:

Please join us at the first interactive public meeting to talk about the future of the Town of Essex municipal site at 80/90 Upper Main Street. This is an exciting opportunity for you to be at the heart of shaping our town center's future. The meeting will take place at the new Farmhouse Event Center at The Essex Resort and Spa (70 Essex Way) on Thursday, August 1 starting at 7pm.

The Town’s consultant team is beginning the 6-month process of developing a conceptual master plan for the 32-acre site. We want to hear your ideas about what you would like to see here in addition to a municipal complex. The meeting will begin with a brief presentation to introduce the planning process and review past work. Small group discussions will follow for attendees to share ideas that will help inform the team. We hope to see you there!

If you can’t join in-person, there will be an online survey to collect feedback posted to the project website after the meeting. Other opportunities for public feedback will occur this fall.

Watch the second meeting that occured on 10/3/2024 here: www.cctv.org/watch-tv/programs/essex-town-planning-meeting-upper-main-street-project

For more information visit: www.essexvt.org/1296/Upper-Main-Street-Planning-Project