South Burlington DRB closes hearing on Autumn Hill Meadows final plat after questions on wetlands, buildable area and access

The South Burlington Development Review Board on April 1 closed the public hearing on final plat application SD-2504 from Autumn Hill Meadows LLC, which would subdivide an existing 13.51-acre parcel at 197 Autumn Hill Road into a 0.79-acre Lot 1 containing two existing barns and a roughly 12.72-acre Lot 2 (the remaining lands).

Staff emphasized outstanding technical details that the board asked the applicant to clarify before the board considers final approval. Those included separate buildable-area figures for the existing parcel and each proposed lot, a clearer rationale for subdividing now, modifications to the illustrative plan to show access to existing homes on Autumn Hill Road, civic-space location and size, and stormwater-area calculations in relation to wetland protections.

Why it matters: the property lies adjacent to a class-2 wetland complex and natural-resource-protection (NRP) lands. How the city treats buffers, buildable acreage and road connections will affect whether future development of the larger remainder lot is feasible and how traffic and wetlands are managed.

The applicant’s representative, Brian Currier of Larry Burke Civil Associates, told the board the illustrative plan for Lot 2 is conceptual and meant to demonstrate that the subdivision will not reduce the remaining lands’ development potential. “We are showing a layout with 36 units on the eastern side of a class 2 wetland complex and then a small fourplex on the southwest corner,” Currier said, adding the layout was “purely for illustrative purposes at this point” and that the applicant has “no intention in moving forward with this development proposal in the near future.”

Owner Christopher Jurio…