HomeMy WebLinkAboutSD-23-10 - Supplemental - 0255 Kennedy Drive (2)
VIA ELECTRONIC MAIL
May 17, 2023
South Burlington Development Review Board
C/O Ms. Marla Keene, Development Review Planner
City of South Burlington
180 Market Street
South Burlington, VT 05403
Re: Final Plat Review: Hillside at O’Brien Farm Lot 13 and Lot 15
Dear Board Members:
This Final Plat application is for the next phase of a previously approved master plan for up to 458
dwelling units and up to 45,000 square feet of office space. This phase consists of two (2) five story multi-family
residential buildings on Lot 13 and Lot 15 with a total of 251 dwelling units, 1,219 square feet of commercial
space, and associated site improvements at 255 Kennedy Drive. This application is submitted in accordance with
Preliminary Plat SD-20-16, as amended by SD-21-13 (the Preliminary Plat). The Preliminary Plat allows for the
submission of this application in phases over a period of six years. The first phase of this final plat was
previously submitted in October 2021, for the construction of 94 dwelling units including up to 79 units
affordable to those earning under 80% of area median income. That application also included full details
regarding roadway, bike and pedestrian improvements (the “Inclusionary Phase” herein), as required for the
first submission of the Preliminary Plat by the Preliminary Plat permit. That project and the roadway is now
under construction, and the inclusionary units will be the first rental units to be occupied on the O’Brien Farm
site.
After that filing, the Board may remember that the Applicant submitted a filing for the same project
discussed herein, which was granted approval by the Development Review Board less than one year ago, in July
of 2022, after several hearings. The issued final plat permit (the Decision) is attached to this Application as
Exhibit 036. That Decision granted a three-year period prior to needing to file for a zoning permit to construct
the project, where the Project permit would remain valid. The extended timeline was granted by the Board
after some discussion. That timeline still holds, and the Applicant did in fact need the time the Board granted.
While the Decision granted the time needed for the applicant to pursue a zoning permit and construct
the project, it included a condition that both the plat plans AND the project Site Plan, would be recorded within
180 days of the Decision, or the Decision would be null and void. While the Applicant is accustomed to the
requirement to record a Plat Plan, which is required by State Statute, the requirement to record a site plan (in
need of numerous changes as outlined in the Decision, typically completed and filed with a zoning permit
application), caught the applicant off-guard. . Regardless, the required recording of the site plan did not occur,
and therefore the Decision has been deemed to be no longer valid.
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The Project is unchanged from what was previously approved. The Applicant has reviewed the entire
previous filing and attached hereto each most-current exhibit that was relied upon in the Decision as well as all
items submitted during the entire process. The enclosed packet contains each piece of information previously
reviewed. Because of the phasing of final plat enabled in the Preliminary Plat permit, the regulations in effect
are identical to the previous Decision. Given this, the Board may issue an identical decision, and re-permit the
project, unchanged per the enclosed submission.
The Applicant believes that the Decision previously issued holds true. All material facts and conditions
are unchanged. The previous application narrative and Decision issued outline in detail compliance with the
applicable zoning regulations. A months-long hearing process ensured such. The Applicant seeks only the same
decision previously issued, without amendment.
We appreciate the Board’s consideration and granting of this request to renew its previous decision.
Our team has worked over the past year to advance this project, investing heavily in the approved plans to get
full project details, and attempting to build the Project on the timeline previously approved by the Board. We
are currently in the process of building this project’s required inclusionary housing (now without the project
approval) and we expect it will be occupied by year’s end. We have been caught off guard by this condition and
the extreme penalty levied for an administrative mistake. We hope that the Board can reconfirm their previous
findings in short order, such that we may again be secure in this Project’s outcomes as it is currently underway.
Thank you for your time and effort in reviewing this application. We look forward to meeting with you
soon. Please see the following Exhibit Table of Contents, outlining what is re-submitted herein.
Sincerely,
Andrew Gill, Director of Development