City settles lawsuit
E.O. Wilson
Police officer wins $90K in settlement
A bright light in conservation goes out
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South Burlington’s Community Newspaper Since 1977
the MARCH 3, 2022
otherpapersbvt.com
VOLUME 46, NO. 9
Developer sues city over regs Alleges discrimination, taking, seeks injunction AVALON STYLES-ASHLEY STAFF WRITER
Barely a month old and South Burlington’s new land development regulations are already headed to court. Two large landowners in the southeast quadrant, Jeff Davis and Jeff Nick, have sued the city and three city councilors — those who voted in favor of the recently approved regulations — alleging that the amendments outlaw 45 acres of their 113-acre property from development in an “illegal taking” and that the regulations “discriminated against property owner rights.” The South Burlington City Council approved the new regulations in early February by a 3-2 vote after three years of interim zoning, which paused development in most of the city with a few exceptions. The new rules have drawn a mixture of criticism and applause from voices across the community, from college students to business-owners to the city affordable housing committee, sometimes bringing heated discussion into the pages of this newspaper’s letter and opinion sections, onto social media and to public hearings. It has also seemed to be a driving divider in the race for city council this Town Meeting Day, with incumbents supportive of the new regs straining to keep their seats in the face of pro-development challengers. The main problem for Davis and Nick, who work with J.L. Davis Realty and own numerous properties across the state, is habitat blocks, according to their lawsuit,
Linda Bailey, center, braved the cold weather Tuesday to campaign at the polls in her bid for a three-year seat on the city council. She was joined by family and friends throughout the day, such as affordable housing committee member Leslie Black-Plumeau, left.
See REGULATIONS on page 10
See TOWN MEETING DAY on page 10
PHOTO BY AVALON STYLES-ASHLEY
Incumbents defend city council seats School, town budgets pass; fall election will see Senate, House changeover AVALON STYLES-ASHLEY STAFF WRITER
A flurry of snow dusted this year’s Town Meeting Day, leaving the four candidates for city council who braved the weather to campaign at the polls with cold jitters on top of their nerves, as the two incumbent city councilors handily defeated their challengers. Tim Barritt and Meaghan Emery won
decisive votes to keep their seats. “It validates what we’re doing in the city, it validates the land development regulations, and it shows that the people are behind them,” Emery said on Tuesday night after the votes were tallied and she’d won her two-year seat against challenger Chris Trombly, 2,132 to 956. “I feel very gratified and very humbled that the voters place their trust in us. It’s not a small thing,” she said.
Emery has served on South Burlington City Council for eight years. Two years ago, she was almost unseated by Matt Cota, who lost by just 74 votes after a tight recount, but he later won a council seat in 2021. “It’s a real endorsement for our position, especially on the land development regulations,” Barritt added. “I’m looking forward to serving three more years.” (See related