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of his home at 292 South Prospect.  Online at www.bcbsvt.com, Colchester Headrick is challenging that decision Burlington  by email at exchangeteam@bcbsvt.com, or (Exit 16) (Downtown) in Superior Court, with an initial conferEat 85 South Park Drive 176 Main Street L o  In person at our headquarters in Berlin or at c al ence scheduled for February 24. She’s Pizzeria / Take Out Pizzeria / Take Out our new Information and Wellness Center Delivery: 655-5555 asking a judge to consider a number Delivery: 862-1234 Casual Fine Dining at the Blue Mall in South Burlington of objections in addition to the noise Cat Scratch, Knight Card Reservations: 655-0000 & C.C. Cash Accepted The Bakery: 655-5282 levels. Her main concerns, outlined in a “Statement of Questionsâ€? submitted www.juniorsvt.com to the court, are increased traffic from customers, which she says disturbs her privacy, and the workshop’s impact on BCBSVT_OurStory-2014.indd1 1 8v-bluecross020514.indd 2/3/2014 2/4/14 4:32:40 10:43 PMAM 8v-juniors020613.indd 1 2/4/13 1:12 PM the character of the neighborhood. “Part of the price we paid for our homes was to be able to enjoy this particular quality of life, a quality which the Burlington Zoning Ordinance was designed, in part, to preserve,â€? she stated in an email to Seven Days. The Headricks paid $395,200 for their South Prospect Street home in 2004. Eight years later, the Buchwalds paid almost twice that — $766,000 — for the place next door. SEVENDAYSVt.com
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In a neighborhood with generally spacious lawns, Headrick lives closer to the Buchwalds than other neighbors — within 35 feet, according to her measurements — and she is the only one to have sought official recourse through the DRB. But she’s not alone in voicing concerns that Buchwald’s workshop could open the floodgates to more home-based businesses and alter the character of the neighborhood. Eighteen people signed a petition she circulated before Buchwald moved in, opposing the approval of a “commercial woodworking business� in their midst. At least some opinions may have shifted in Buchwald’s favor now that he’s moved in and begun work. None of a random sampling of nearby residents
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After considering those objections, the DRB approved Buchwald’s permit application on September 13, noting that his plans were “low key in nature and will result in no adverse impacts on the character of the area.� In the “Findings of Fact� filed at city hall, the board spelled out why the application met each condition that applies to this type of zoning permit. Standard conditions required, among other things, that there be no exterior evidence of the shop, no noise that would bother neighbors and no more than one additional vehicle on the premises. The board did, however, ask Buchwald to submit a list of his tools to the fire marshal for review. Headrick appealed the decision to the DRB without success. The following summer, she alerted a code enforcement official to two alleged violations: She said Buchwald had been using his entire garage to build his guitars, despite having told the DRB that he would only need half of it. And customers had started coming to his house, which also hadn’t been stipulated in his application. After a visit from city regulators, Buchwald found himself in front of the DRB again, this time seeking permission to change his permit to allow customers to come to the premises and to enable him to use the entire garage for his work. Buchwald said he didn’t realize he had transgressed the bounds of his permit. Board members granted Buchwald’s request for an expanded permit. A customer car in his driveway would not significantly increase neighborhood traffic, the DRB ruled, and using the entire garage would be fine. The zoning ordinance states that a home occupation can take up no more than 35 percent of a dwelling; Buchwald’s garage represents 9 percent
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