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Draft regional future land-use map for South Burlington highlights Shelburne Road node and flags Tech Park for further review
Summary
CCRPC presented a draft future land-use map for South Burlington showing the downtown center/newtown center area, a proposed node along Shelburne Road at Fayette Drive, suggested nodes near Kennedy/Kimball, and questions about the Tech Park/Meadowlands zone; commissioners and staff discussed next steps and outreach.
Regional planners showed the South Burlington Planning Commission a draft future land-use map that uses the statutory 11-category scheme under Act 181 and asked for initial feedback on several potential centers and planned-growth areas.
Kate McCarthy of the Chittenden County Regional Planning Commission displayed the draft map and said, "This is 1 idea" for how the region's categories might translate to South Burlington. Taylor Newton said the RPC had translated municipal policies into regional categories but expected to refine boundaries after local input.
The map identifies the city's downtown corridor and adjacent planned growth areas in darker purples and pinks. CCRPC staff highlighted three areas for discussion:
- A proposed node along Shelburne Road centered on Fayette Drive and the Lowe's/Hannaford corridor, where staff noted existing approvals and master plans, transit service and sewer/water infrastructure. Staff and several commissioners said the area lacks a public indoor gathering space and suggested a civic or branch-library-type facility could anchor a new center.
- A Kennedy/Kimball area (including O'Brien developments) that staff currently mapped as a planned-growth area but which commissioners said may warrant identification as a center because of existing mixed-use approvals and proximity to dense residential neighborhoods.
- The Tech Park/Meadowlands area (including Meadowlands, Gregory Drive and portions behind the airport), which staff flagged as ambiguous: it includes office, manufacturing and logistics uses (for example, a FedEx facility). Commissioners noted 24-hour or heavy truck operations that complicate straightforward conversion to residential uses and urged a focused local planning process before any state-tier recommendation.
Commissioners and public participants raised data and boundary questions: conserved lands, wetland and floodplain delineations, up-to-date sewer-service areas, and how the RPC's regional "pixels" will mesh with more detailed municipal habitat-block and conservation mapping. CCRPC staff said municipal plans and local regulations would govern site-level protections for wetlands or steep slopes even if an area appears on the regional map as a planned growth area.
Staff said they will update the draft map with corrections raised at the meeting, refine the outreach plan to reach renters and underrepresented groups and make the mapped draft publicly available for review in March. The RPC also plans targeted outreach at summer events and partner organizations and to bring revised maps back to the commission and council.
