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Property Owners and City Wrestle with Historic Preservation Standards

Local Matters

When Yves Bradley, owner of the Body Shop in Burlington, decided to replace all the old, wooden windows in the building he owns, at the corner of Church and Bank streets, with energy-efficient ones, he thought he was making a wise investment — for his business, his tenants, the city and the planet.... Read more

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What $250K Can Get You in Vermont

A sampling of “affordable” housing around the state

Vermont is one of the toughest places in the country to buy a house. Demand far exceeds supply here — so much so that the median price of an existing home has doubled in the last decade, to more than $200,000. If you’re in the market for something brand new, expect to pay in the neighborhood of $320,000, on average, according to the Vermont Housing Awareness Campaign.... Read more

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Student Housing Plan Raises Town-Gown Tension

Local Matters

Champlain College has spent a lot of time lately trying to sell its neighbors and the Burlington City Council on a plan to buy property near the heart of downtown, tear down a building, and construct new apartments for 200 students.... Read more

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Colchester Housing Project Ticks Off Neighbors

Local Matters

Tim Riddle knew a large housing project was planned for the woods behind his house when he moved to Malletts Bay Avenue a couple years ago. What he didn’t know was that the developer would sell the project to a nonprofit housing group, or that the $240,000 condominiums planned for the site would be replaced by rental housing for low- and moderate-income residents.... Read more

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Between the Lines

In the world of fair housing, "discrimination" is in the eye of the beholder

"For Rent: Must see to believe! 3-BR, 1-BA executive apartment in low-crime Chittenden County neighborhood. Quiet, second-story walkup across from First Methodist Church. Walk-in closets, lake view, unfenced yard near lake. Two-person max. occupancy. Ideal for young professionals/empty nesters. Please: no smokers, big dogs, Muslims or fat people. Se habla español. Gays and lesbians welcome! $900/mo. Credit check and proof of employment required. Not Section 8 approved."... Read more

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Dogged Pursuits

A homeless Vermonter pens an autobiography to fund a Buddhist temple in Asia

Doug Rose has logged more than a quarter-million miles on America’s highways, yet he’s never driven a car. The Brooklyn native has worked countless jobs in more than a dozen states, but he hasn’t had a permanent address since 1972. Rose has raised tens of thousands of dollars on behalf of orphaned children in Mexico, homeless people in Massachusetts and famine victims in Africa over the last 30 years. Yet the 56-year-old Vermonter has never had a bank account or credit card and, right now, probably has less than $500 to his name.... Read more

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Battery Street Developer to Pay City $400K in Lieu of Affordable Housing

Local Matters

A Battery Street developer has agreed to pay nearly a half-million dollars into the city’s Housing Trust Fund rather than meet a mandate to build affordable housing units near the Burlington Waterfront. The agreement, approved by the Burlington City Council last week, ends months of extensive negotiations with the developer and helps the city avoid potentially lengthy and costly litigation. The deal also frees up the property, at Battery and Cherry streets, for future development.... Read more

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Couple Sells Trailer After Volunteers Replace Roof

Local Matters

Two days before Christmas, Earl Larocque stepped through the roof of a Colchester trailer home while shoveling snow off the building. The trailer’s occupants, Larocque’s mother and her husband, Charlene and Joseph Lucia, are both 72 years old and living on fixed incomes. Faced with a $4800 repair bill, Charlene had an idea.

“I called the Free Press,” she recalls, and told a reporter that she had “a hole in my roof and no money to fix it.”... Read more

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“Katrina Cottage” Designer Talks Small in Burlington

Local Matters

BURLINGTON — Efficiency Vermont considered many possible headline speakers, including Al Gore, for its Better Buildings by Design Conference this week in Burlington. But ultimately, the energy-conservation organization chose a woman who unabashedly admits that size matters: architect Marianne Cusato, designer of the so-called ”Katrina Cottage.” [CUSATO'S TALK WILL BE DELAYED BY ONE HOUR DUE TO WEATHER.... Read more

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State Cracks Down on Burlington-Area Chinese Restaurant Owners

Local Matters

ESSEX JUNCTION — Ming’s at Essex Chinese Restaurant near Five Corners now sits dark and lifeless, with a commercial “FOR SALE” sign posted at the curb. Next door, a rundown commercial building, where kitchen help from the neighboring eatery once lived — in violation of local zoning ordinances — is also vacant and on the market. Behind Ming’s, the big, white Victorian at 2 Park Terrace is still occupied.... Read more

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