BURLINGTON — The developer of the stalled downtown CityPlace Burlington development, has filed a countersuit against some of the most prominent project opponents.
In the countersuit, Brookfield Asset Management alleges that members of the group of residents who have been challenging the project in court violated a settlement agreement between the two parties.
Brookfield is requesting damages, including attorney’s fees, and to be excused from making a $500,000 donation to a charitable fund that was laid out in the settlement agreement.
After more than a year of no progress on the downtown development project, Brookfield unveiled a scaled-down version of its plan for the site this fall. Brookfield is aiming to start construction on the redesigned, $120 million, 10-story project in August and complete it in 2023.
Attorney John Franco represents the residents involved in the suit, Barbara McGrew, Lynn Martin, Michael Long and Steve Goodkind. Franco has represented citizen groups that have filed a handful of lawsuits against the project, the most recent of which alleges that the developer had violated the terms of the settlement agreement.
Franco said the countersuit was “a kick in the teeth.”
“Lynn, Steven, Michael and Barbara, who are all the original plaintiffs in the open suit, are all retirees on Social Security sued by a multi-billion dollar company,” he said.
Chelsea Ziegelbaum, a project manager for Brookfield, did not immediately respond to a phone call or email requesting comment.
In the countersuit, Brookfield alleges that residents violated the agreement by continuing to pursue a public records lawsuit.
Franco said the residents are planning on challenging the countersuit on the grounds that it violates the state anti-SLAPP statute, which bars “strategic lawsuits against public participation.”
Under the statute, Brookfield will have to prove that the residents’ argument was “devoid of any reasonable factual support and any arguable basis in law” and that their actions have caused “actually injury” to Brookfield.
“That legislation prohibits precisely this type of lawsuit,” Franco said.
At the City Council’s Jan. 6 meeting, city councilors and city consultant Jeff Glassberg expressed frustrations with Brookfield’s lack of public outreach on the new plan.
The current atmosphere around the project is not good, Franco said.
“It certainly poisons the well in terms of trying to cooperate in getting an amended plan through,” Franco said. “Some people have suggested they are just using this as an excuse not to do anything.”
Read the story on VTDigger here: CityPlace Burlington developers sue project opponents.