Winooski council hears case to condemn 0.18-acre hotel parcel for Burlington–Winooski bridge staging; appraisal reviewed

Winooski City Council on Wednesday heard testimony and technical presentations about a proposed municipal condemnation of a 0.18-acre parcel owned by the Winooski Hotel Group to provide construction staging and access for the Burlington–Winooski bridge replacement.

The condemnation hearing included two panels: one on the necessity of temporarily using the parcel for construction staging and access, and a second on compensation. Christian Schorba, an attorney with Downs Rockland Martin representing the city, told the council, "This is a municipal condemnation of land owned by Winooski Hotel Group," and described the two issues the council must address: necessity and compensation under the municipal statute cited in the presentation.

The presentations were technical. Bob Kleinfelter, project manager for the Vermont Agency of Transportation (VTrans), described a phased, roughly three-year construction schedule that VTrans expects will require temporary work areas and repeated access to the river during demolition and reconstruction. Kleinfelter said the reconstructed bridge would be a four-lane structure with widened outside lanes for additional bike and pedestrian access and that construction activity will require material staging, crane lifts and concrete operations in constrained, historic and utility-dense surroundings.

HNTB consultant Josh Olin and structure manager Caroline Koda walked the council through sequential construction steps and showed plan views and renderings that identified three potential construction-access quadrants near the bridge. The city’s presentation quantified the candidate staging areas as roughly: area 1 = 13,000 square feet, area 2 = 16,000 square feet, and area 3 = 21,000 square feet (about 50,000 square feet combined split across three separate sites). VTrans staff warned that losing access to the 21,000-square-foot parcel would shrink usable staging space and, per the presentation, could extend the active construction schedule by roughly six months, raise direct bridge construction costs by about 15% and add an estimated $8 million to $15 million in regional “user costs” from extended traffic impacts.

Council members and residents asked about worker safety, winter work and snow storage. Kleinfelter said some activities (steel installation, certain demolition) can proceed in winter while others (concrete placement) are seasonally constrained and that contractors typically clear their own work areas of snow or make arrangements to haul snow off-site. On jurisdiction, Kleinfelter explained that the bridge is municipally owned by Winooski and Burlington and that "the state does not have any ownership in the bridge itself. It is entirely owned by the municipality." VTrans is providing technical assistance under a finance-and-maintenance agreement; the agreement requires the municipality to be the condemning authority if condemnation is necessary.

On compensation, commercial appraiser Luke Martin (lead appraiser) presented an October 3, 2023 appraisal that concluded a market value for the fee-simple property of $370,000 and, separately, a market-rent analysis estimating annual rent that would support a temporary 6-year right-of-use. Martin summarized his methodology: he relied on a sales-comparison approach using seven comparable land sales adjusted to price-per-acre, concluded a $2,050,000-per-acre rate, and reconciled that to $370,000 for the 0.18-acre parcel. He told the council, "That's the final value that I concluded, $370,000."

VTrans review appraiser Rosa Benoit reviewed Martin’s report for agency and federal-aid standards. Benoit said she had examined the appraisal, the market-rent addendum and the applicable guidance (Uniform Appraisal Standards for Federal Land Acquisitions and VTrans right-of-way manuals) and recommended the report as a basis for just compensation. Benoit recorded the appraisal’s before value as $370,000 and the VTrans-calculated compensation for the temporary rights over the projected six-year project duration as $188,400, saying, "I do recommend the appraisal as a basis for just compensation." She confirmed the temporary-rights figure equals the market-rent analysis (about $31,400 per year times six years).

City planning staff confirmed there were no active development permits on the parcel at the appraisal date. Council members also discussed contamination and remediation: VTrans and city staff said soils disturbed during construction will be managed under a soil-management plan reviewed by the Vermont Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC), contaminated excavated material would likely be disposed off-site, and the finance-and-maintenance agreement assigns cleanup costs to the city as a nonparticipating expense while VTrans will pursue federal participation for remediation costs during NEPA and federal-aid reviews. VTrans staff said disturbed areas would be restored when work is complete; they did not guarantee a full site-wide cleanup to a development-ready condition but said excavation for construction would be handled to DEC standards.

After presentations and questions, council members agreed to close the public hearing temporarily and reconvene the condemnation hearing and deliberation on July 14 to allow the property owner an opportunity to present. The council passed the motion to close and reconvene; Thomas Brenner made the motion and Charlie seconded, and the vote was recorded as unanimous. No final condemnation order or final compensation award was made at the June 25 meeting.

The council also approved routine consent items and adjourned at the end of the special meeting. The record of the presentations — the appraisal by Luke Martin and VTrans review by Rosa Benoit — will be part of the public record and expected to be referenced again when the hearing reconvenes July 14.

What happens next: The council will rehear the matter July 14 to receive the property owner’s presentation and then deliberate. Any formal condemnation (and any associated payment) would be recorded only if the council votes to authorize it or, if appealed, after subsequent proceedings in Vermont Superior Court as described by the city’s counsel on statutory appeals and referral processes.