SOUTH BURLINGTON, Vt. -
An interim zoning ordinance in South Burlington has frozen potential construction projects since March. When the city council enacted it an economic analysis of the ordinance was guaranteed by the first council meeting in October. That day came and went without a report.
That analysis was supposed to touch on the city's budget, residents, and businesses.
Jim Knapp is a former South Burlington city council member and voted against the ordinance, which passed 3-2. On Monday he addressed the city council as a citizen and expressed his concern that no report had yet been compiled and that they were not following state law without completing the report.
"The city didn't really have data when it adopted interim zoning. It's a little unusual to say we'll put interim zoning into affect and sit on it for a while and we'll look at it down the road. At least they were going to look at it down the road. But now they haven't even done that," Knapp said.
City Council Chair Rosanne Greco said that a study on the economic impact of the interim ordinance doesn't fit into the city's current budget but will down the road. She also said that the city council is following state law since they had already planned on doing the economic study at the time of voting on the ordinance.
Greco also noted that at a previous city council meeting the council had discussed that the study wasn't going to be completed by the October date because of a lack of money. She said that because of other reports the council was currently conducting on Sustainable Agriculture, Affordable Housing and other issues the city doesn't have the budget to support another study.
But Knapp's concern isn't as much about the ordinance as the promise it made to its citizens that an economic analysis would be completed by October.
"I was concerned the city wasn't following the process and our rule of law is that once you adopt a process you have to follow it," Knapp said.
The interim zoning ordinance can be kept in effect for two years. Its main purpose is to keep the status quo while the city works on drafting new zoning regulations.
