By Minelle Sarfo-Adu
Fair Housing Project Intern
The South Burlington City Council and Planning Commission held a special joint meeting earlier this month to discuss equity and land use. Held in a hybrid format both virtually and in person, the session included a panel of experts who spoke about making more access to affordable homes while combating climate change.
This discussion was timely because of the struggle of being able to find affordable homes in South Burlington – especially for African Americans. Only 27% of the city’s African American residents own their homes, compared to 66% of while South Burlington residents. (2.5% of the city’s population is African American.) Meanwhile, the competing interests of land preservation and the need for affordable housing came up several times during the session.
The forum speakers were Dr. Pablo Bose, Dr. Lesley-Ann Dupigny-Giroux, Elizabeth Mackin, Chief Richard “Dick” Menard, and Chief Don Stevens. Each presenter had around 10 minutes to present in a format of their choosing. Some speakers decided on commentary and others chose slideshows. At the end, South Burlington City Councilor Meaghan Emery opened up a question and answer period for the public audience. The audience consisted of the South Burlington Affordable Housing Committee and the general public.
The first panelist was Dr. Pablo Bose of the University of Vermont, who is an urban geographer, political ecologist, and migration studies scholar who works on refugee resettlement and agriculture/food security, including through the USDA’s Community Food Program. He is a former member of Green Mountain Transit and Burlington Housing Authority boards, and a current member of Burlington Public Works Commission and the Burlington Reparations Taskforce.
Dr. Bose came to the discussion with a quick and short commentary and three observations and concerns:
- Transportation – to have a welcoming, livable community, people have to be able to access all opportunities. Barriers to mobility have a big impact. For example, Tilley Drive in South Burlington is a hub for medical facilities, but is only accessible only by car. Walking and biking infrastructure make sense, but do not take into account elderly and/or disabled persons, weather conditions, and access.
- Affordability – the greater Burlington area is moving toward unaffordability and this is a barrier to growth. There is a dearth of housing and assistance programs like Housing Choice Vouchers (Section 8) do little to make the market accessible.
- Climate crisis – climate change is here with a vengeance, and we are at the tipping point. We cannot make short-term decisions and take short cuts
The next speaker was Dr. Lesley-Ann Dupigny-Giroux of the University of Vermont, who specializes in hydrology, remote sensing, climate change and variability, extreme weather, and climate literacy. Dr. Dupigny-Giroux is co-founder of the Diversity Climate Network (D-ClimNet), the Vermont State Climatologist, President of the American Association of State Climatologists, Inc., and member of the Vermont Climate Council.
Dr. Dupigny-Giroux, presented with a slideshow that explained the effects of climate change, how she views climate change as a system, and how it affects our lives. One of the presented slides explained how the extreme weather and climate events will affect at-risk communities the most. At-risk communities include marginalized groups, children, older adults, and lower income areas and more.
The next speaker was Elizabeth Mackin, UVM Class of 2021 (BS in Environmental Studies, BA in Political Science). Mackin is Assistant Farmer Market Manager of Last Resort Farm in Monkton, Vermont. She talked about how many students struggle with finding places to live after graduation and how many have ended up having to move back in their family or back to hometowns. When people do manage to find housing, there are often weatherization issues which increase heating costs for people living from paycheck to paycheck. Mackin said the high cost of heating affected her budget for food, rent, and transportation.
The second to last speaker was Chief Richard “Dick” Menard of the St. Francis/Sokoki Band of the Missisquoi – Abenaki Nation. Chief Menard is an accomplished woodcarver, and community leader working to decrease gaps in service and treatment across the spectrums of health, human, and social services for the Abenaki People
During the COVID pandemic, Chief Menard fed people at food shelves and delivered food to rural areas. He expressed the hardships of keeping the food fresh with minimal refrigeration at the food shelves, the challenge of high heating bills, and the need for housing with larger rooms to meet people’s needs.
The last speaker was Chief Don Stevens of the Nulhegan Band of the Coosuk – Abenaki Nation. Chief Stevens is an award-winning businessman, writer, and lecturer. He is former Chair of the Vermont Commission on Native American Affairs, which led the effort to attain legal recognition for the Abenaki People in Vermont.
Chief Stevens also cited the food shelf as a resource and spoke of the need to respect the environment and its natural cycles. He encouraged the preservation of ash trees, seed saving, and school gardens as ways to protect the environment and increase food security, along with increased access to land for food and medicine and working with colleges to create seed banks and grow food.
The discussion that followed touched on issues of affordability among skyrocketing home prices, increased heating costs, and the competing interests of land preservation and constructing affordable housing.
For example, the South Burlington Land Trust is advocating for the city to buy and conserve a large portion of the Southeast Quadrant to address climate change, but some of this land along Dorset Street is already served by utilities and would be appropriate for housing. There was concern that conserving land in South Burlington could push development into rural areas like Hinesburg and Milton. Meanwhile, 56% of the land in South Burlington is in private ownership, is not conserved, and could be used for housing.
Dr. Bose noted the fact that some of the land that is conserved today was conserved because rich people wanted it for enjoyment. He spoke of the unintended consequences of conserving land, such as pushing development into communities without services or access to public transportation.
Other issues that came up included the need for colleges to build more housing for students, and also for colleges and the city of South Burlington to grant land access to the Abenaki.
To read the full minutes from the Equity and Land Use meeting, go to https://sbvt-records.info/WebLink/DocView.aspx?id=251785&dbid=0&repo=SBurl
View the recording of the meeting here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=irHNzoa5_bQ
Want to learn more about housing issues in South Burlington and the region?
To get involved, attend the South Burlington Affordable Housing Committee meeting on Monday Sept. 6 at 10:30am. https://www.gotomeet.me/SouthBurlingtonVT/affordable-housing-committee08-23-2021 or in person at: Room 301 at 180 Market St, South Burlington, VT 05403
Minelle Sarfo-Adu is an intern with the CVOEO Fair Housing Project. The 17-year-old is also a member of the South Burlington Affordable Housing Committee and will be starting early college at CCV in the fall.