Fencing is erected on Wednesday at City Hall Park in Burlington in preparation of a year-long renovation. Photo by Alexandre Silverman/VTDigger
This post was updated at 5:55 p.m.
BURLINGTON – A Vermont Superior Court judge ruled Thursday morning that a contentious construction project can proceed at City Hall Park.
The plaintiffs of a lawsuit aiming to halt the redesign plans filed a renewed motion for a preliminary injunction on Monday. The group claimed the construction permit for the project expired on March 22, since the city did not begin work by that date. The court filing also alleged that changes to the project, including different materials, would require approval of an amendment to the permit issued by the Development Review Board.
Fencing went up around the park yesterday to prepare for the renovation, and maintenance work to prepare for construction — including the removal of trees and benches — is expected to begin next week.
In Monday’s motion the group had asked for a hearing before work at the downtown park begins. But the preliminary injunction was denied in a concise, one-page decision from Judge Helen Toor, who ruled construction can continue before a hearing even if the permit may be no longer valid.
“The court has already ruled that the replacement of older trees with younger ones, and the plaintiffs’ sadness at seeing the changes in the park, do not meet the legal definition of irreparable harm,” Toor wrote.
“Nor do the Plaintiffs cite any legal authority to support their claim that proceeding with construction without a valid permit–again assuming this to be true for the purposes of the motion–constitutes irreparable harm to the plaintiffs.”
The opposition group previously filed for an injunction in February, but that was denied by the court. A hearing will be held once the city submits a response to the filing on the construction permit. The court-set deadline is July 16.
The City Hall Park renovations have been a controversial issue in the city. At the center of debate has been Keep the Park Green, a coalition of people opposed to the plans. The group is against increasing pavement and the removal of fully grown trees, and has spearheaded various efforts to derail the project from moving forward as scheduled.
The coalition collected more than 3,000 signatures on a petition asking the council to put an advisory question about the plan on the March Town Meeting Day ballot. But the council decided not to place the issue on the ballot in a 6-6 vote.
A small group of members of Keep the Park Green gathered by the steps of the courthouse on Thursday to wait for the decision.
James Leas, a South Burlington-based attorney, has been representing a group of 36 citizens in the legal battle to stop construction from proceeding.
“I am still in shock that the court allows the city to proceed with demolition without a valid permit,” Leas said.
Donna Walters, a member of Keep the Park Green, said she felt “sick” that project was moving forward.
“The majority of the people in the city don’t seem to want this, but they don’t really care what we want,” she said after the fencing went up yesterday.
Burlington Mayor Miro Weinberger said in a statement that the city’s construction permit is valid and allows work to proceed as scheduled.
The permit says work must start by March 22, and the city has developed a corrective action plan for contaminated soils, which resets the permit clock, according to Weinberger.
“It is exciting that after years of work, we are underway on a project that will do just that,” Weinberger said. “At the same time, it is unfortunate that there is a group that continues to spread misinformation about the project and seeks to block it at every turn, even after the City went to great lengths and made substantial project changes to address the group’s concerns.”
Work is expected to be complete in fall 2020, but officials hope the park will be able to partially open to the community next summer.
The new City Hall Park will include increased seating, a new fountain, rain gardens to mitigate stormwater runoff, realigned footpaths and more than 1,000 flowers and grasses.
Cindi Wight, the director of Burlington Parks, Recreation and Waterfront, said once the renovations are complete the park will have healthy trees and greenery.
“It’s really just going to be this amazing, really welcoming site for everyone in the community to come into,” she said.
Read the story on VTDigger here: Judge rejects latest request by City Hall Park renovation opponents.