Please join us for the BTV Housing Summit - Part 2 for an important community conversation about housing policy reform in Burlington.
In June, we kicked off the public conversation about these ideas with the BTV Housing Summit where, over the course of two meetings and dozens of small group conversations, we got to hear from more than 200 Burlingtonians and other stakeholders about housing in Burlington, how to get it right in five key areas, and—knowing that there will be more work to do—what policy reforms should come next.
https://www.cctv.org/watch-tv/programs/burlington-housing-summit-2019
Additional information:
Burlington is one of many cities around the country where, for decades, land use policies have restricted the creation of new housing – and the walkability, affordability, and diversity that come with it. While we have made progress over the last seven years to reform our housing policies, we have more work to do.
Why is housing policy so important? By getting it right, we also have the opportunity to structure our land use in a way that benefits our climate and natural areas, makes it possible for our community to be more diverse, spreads the costs of our public services over a larger tax base, and much more.
Right now, the City is working on a package of housing policy reforms, with a focus on five key areas of unfinished business from the City's Housing Action Plan. In each of these areas, we have the opportunity to make structural fixes that will help address the supply and affordability of housing in Burlington. These five areas are:
- Updating our standards for *energy efficiency in rental housing* in order to support our climate goals and protect renters from unreasonably high utility costs;
- Making it easier for people to build *Accessory Dwelling Units* (ADUs) which offer more flexibility for families to age in place, offset housing costs for homeowners, and create additional neighborhood-scale housing options throughout the city;
- Implementing new regulations for *short-term rentals* (like Airbnb) that help us reduce impacts on long-term housing availability and neighborhoods, while balancing the economic benefit for Burlingtonians who are hosts;
- Reforming our *requirements for building new parking* in new residential developments in our downtown and along key transportation corridors, in order to reduce a major cost driver of housing and give people more choices when it comes to the cost of car ownership; and
- Continuing Burlington’s proud legacy of building as much permanently affordable housing as possible by restoring and increasing the level of funding for the City’s *Housing Trust Fund.*
