Burlington’s city council could soon take up a rezoning request for Garden Road that the city’s planning board recommended against last month.
The rezoning request from Lisa Wittig was for .9 acres at 3383 Garden Road, which she seeks to convert from its current medium density residential zoning to a general business zoning designation. She wants to rezone in order to put a real estate office on the site.
The city’s planning director, Jamie Lawson, told the planning and zoning commission on September 28 that the application was not consistent with the city’s long-term land use plans for that area.
While Lawson and others acknowledged the “transitional” nature of the area, it was noted that most of the business-related zoning in the area is conditional business zoning (i.e., with specific purposes and limitations), while Wittig’s proposal was for an overall (or straight) business rezoning, which could allow for many other types of business in addition to the real estate office Wittig says she has in mind.
Planning board members expressed concerns and ultimately voted unanimously, 5-0, against the proposed rezoning.
