South Burlington DRB continues hearing on 5,400 sq. ft. dental office at 40 Kimball Ave.

The South Burlington Development Review Board on Jan. 21 continued a hearing on site plan application SP 2501, a proposal by property owner John Wilking to build a 5,400‑square‑foot, single‑story dental/medical office on a roughly 1.88‑acre parcel at 40 Kimball Avenue.

The board said it would hold the hearing open to allow city departments and staff to complete reviews the board identified as outstanding, including a city arborist review of proposed tree removals, public works and stormwater comments and clarification on whether limited regrading in the city’s river corridor is permissible. The hearing was continued to Feb. 19, 2025.

Why it matters: The staff and board focused on several interlocking policy issues that affect approvals statewide and locally — river corridor restrictions, removal of mature street trees that could block rooftop solar, parking counts for medical uses, stormwater treatment, and how the building will connect to sidewalks and the planned recreational path on Kimball Avenue. Those issues determine whether the site layout, grading and landscaping proposed by the applicant can move forward without structural changes such as a retaining wall or a redesigned parking layout.

Project summary and site details John Wilking, the applicant and owner of the parcel, told the board the site has been a paved parking area for many years and that the proposed project is a single‑story dental office intended to serve Green Mountain Dental partners Tyler Atten and Nushi Brown. He described the parcel as about 1.88 acres, but said roughly half the lot is constrained by the Potash Brook corridor and wooded ravine behind the site. The proposal calls for 37 parking spaces and a building height that peaks at roughly 24 feet 4 inches.

On the record, Wilking said: “We’re asking for the 15 foot setback,” referring to a requested front‑yard setback modification from the standard 30 feet. He added later, “We will not touch the 100 year floodplain,” when the board asked whether any filling would occur in mapped flood areas.

Setback waiver, parking and building siting The applicant requested a front setback modification to place the building 15 feet from the right‑of‑way…