The City of Burlington settled an appeal with a Burlington landowner this week, removing the final obstacle that could have put a stop to the long-planned Champlain Parkway project.
“This means that at some point – and we hope sooner rather than later – but at some point the Champlain Parkway will be awarded an Act 250 permit,” Burlington Mayor Miro Weinberger said, referring to environmental permits required by state law.
The Champlain Parkway is a proposed traffic route that would curve from the end of Interstate 189 on Shelburne Road to Burlington's South End.
The new settlement comes less than two months after the city settled with Vermont Railway in another appeal related to the project’s environmental permit.
There were four appeals related to the Champlain Parkway permit, and this week’s settlement was the city’s second, but it was the last one that could have put a stop to the project.
“Of the three remaining appeals [after the Vermont Railways settlement], this one basically was an appeal that went to fundamental questions about the project,” Weinberger said. “Depending on the outcome of the case, you could have had a result that said ‘No, you can’t build this.’ That was put to bed with this settlement.”
The remaining two settlements focus on details of the project, Weinberger said, and could only result in changes to the proposed parkway, not cancelation.
With those cases, Weinberger said, “We’re either going to get a settlement I’d say in the next month or so, or this is going to trial.”
Click the colored lines or area on this interactive map to learn more about the proposed Champlain Parkway as well as the land Mayor Miro Weinberger hopes to redevelop.
