South Burlington holds necessity hearing on Dorset Street shared‑use path

The South Burlington City Council convened a necessity hearing Sept. 29 to consider whether the public good, necessity and convenience warrant laying out permanent and temporary easements for a shared‑use path on Dorset Street.

Outside counsel Dave Rue and city staff entered prefiled testimony and exhibits supporting the project, including testimony from Erica Qualentoll, the city’s deputy director of capital projects, and Israel Maynard, the project engineer from Stantec. Qualentoll told the council the corridor has been on the city’s planning maps since the 1990s, the preferred design was supported by a 2017 feasibility study and the design received a Vermont Agency of Transportation grant in 2019. “This meeting is for the purpose of receiving testimony…whether the public good, necessity, and convenience of the inhabitants of the city of South Burlington warrant the laying out and condemnation of certain rights and easement,” the chair said when opening the hearing.

Multiple property owners who would be affected objected to the taking and questioned the city’s outreach and the precision of the easement descriptions. Rob Chittenden, who owns two parcels along the route, said the city is attempting to take “24 feet of my front yard through eminent domain for a bike path” and urged the council to reconsider the route or the process. City counsel and staff said landowners received notice of the right‑of‑way process in July 2022 and that offer packages were mailed in December 2023 and December 2024; the city also agreed to accept additional written evidence until Friday at 4:00 p.m. and will issue a written decision within 60 days.