HomeMy WebLinkAboutSD-18-28 - Supplemental - 1580 Dorset Street (65)Katherine and Edward Van Woert
99 Sommerfield Ave.
South Burlington, VT 05403
September 9, 2018
City of South Burlington
Development Review Board
c/o Marla Keene
Department of Planning and Zoning
575 Dorset Street
South Burlington Vermont 05403
Dear Members of the Development Review Board:
We are unable to attend the September 18th DRB meeting on the final plat for Cider Mill II as we will be out of
state on a planned vacation. Please accept this letter for the DRB packet and for presentation at the meeting.
We are in agreement with the developer that the “technical review” was strictly based on a narrow planning
perspective and failed to consider past city planning for ultimate east-west connectivity between Dorset and
Hinesburg Road. The connection was planned to be designed and made in the future in the context of not yet
known development north of the Cider Mill II plat under DRB consideration. The connection was intended to
be built in the future to meet connectivity needs that have not yet emerged and cannot be anticipated at this
time. The “technical review” did conclude that the connection was unnecessary for traffic purposes related to
Cider Mill II, which should be the main take away from that review.
Therefore, we support the developer’s proposal to contribute an additional $142,000 to the city for future
connection to be defined by later development. It makes sense to hold off and design and connect Cider Mill
Drive to Sommerfield and beyond in the context of holistic future east-west city connectivity needs.
We are very concerned that the “technical review” pros and cons did not include any analysis of the impact of
the Cider Mill Drive extension crossing a Class II wetland and designated wildlife corridor. This is yet another
reason that the future road extension needs to be well-engineered and in the context of future holistic city needs.
It does complicate matters that the wetlands and wildlife corridors run largely north-south which makes it
imperative to design thoughtful wildlife crossings with east-west human travel corridors. Incremental
encroachment on the designated wildlife corridor and wetland between the current end of Cider Mill Drive and
Sommerfield Ave. should be postponed until future city development is better known -- and then designed to
meet those needs.
We support the recommendation of the “technical review” for a 12 foot pinch point over the wetlands on Aurora
Drive for wetland, wildlife, and traffic calming purposes. We also hope that the final plat includes no fences
near wildlife corridors that would impede north-south animal movement. Wildlife options to move within South
Burlington are shrinking rapidly!
Thank you for your consideration.
Sincerely,
Katherine and Edward Van Woert