Conservation Board

Open Space Subcommittee Meeting Public Notice Monday, January 5, 2026, 4:30 PM 311 North Avenue, Conference Room or Remote via Zoom Zoom: https://zoom.us/j/93003665627?pwd=z7VErCCmr0Td9mIr7AZabt8b8b5fvL.1 Webinar ID: 930 0366 5627 Password: 415789 Telephone: 1 309 205 3325 1. Public Comment 2. Discussion Items 2.1. Burlington wetlands map 2.2. 451 Ethan Allen Parkway 3. Adjournment 4. Informational and Non-Discrimination Statements The City of Burlington will not tolerate unlawful harassment or discrimination on the basis of political or religious affiliation, race, color, national origin, place of birth, ancestry, age, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, marital status, veteran status, disability, HIV positive status, crime victim status or genetic information. The City is also committed to providing proper access to services, facilities and employment opportunities. The programs and services of the City of Burlington are accessible to people with disabilities. Individuals who require special arrangements, auxiliary aid, service for effective communication, or a modification of policies or procedures to participate in a program, service, or activity of the City of Burlington, should contact the office of the Title II Burlington ADA Coordinator at 802-865-7000 as soon as possible but no later than 48 hours before the scheduled event. Page 1 of 3 From: Dale Azaria > Sent: Tuesday, December 16, 2025 7:22 AM To: Dan Cahill < >; Scott Gustin >; Rebecca Roman > Cc: Ryan Crehan > Subject: Re: Open Space SubCommittee - January For what it's worth, here are the notes I took at the Wetlands Rulemaking meeting held by ANR yesterday: I attended yesterday’s public meeting on the proposed changes to the Vt Wetlands Rules related to Gov Scott’s Executive Order on Housing. This should not be considered a full summary of the meeting. I was particularly interested in how DEC will deal with mapping issues given how much more important the VSWI becomes from a regulatory perspective under the proposed new rule. There’s another meeting today at 1:00 if anyone wants to attend.  They discussed the improvements to VSWI and said that they would be completing the updates soon. These updates are still based on aerial imagery but they are much better than the old maps. For example, in the Winooski Basin they increased the mapped areas by 140%. <I'm not sure if Burlington has already been updated but that should be easy to determine.>  The areas identified as “Pending VSWI” on the map ANR is using in association with this rulemaking still have to go through public process and formal approval before they are considered “mapped” for purposes of the proposed rule.  They said that if they have an actual delineation that differs from the aerial imagery data they will used the delineation– but in practice they have a backlog of adding actual delineations onto the VSWI and didn’t say when they would clear that backlog. <It would have been good to ask whether they intended to clear that backlog before implementing the new rule, but I didn’t think of it at the time.>  There’s a petition process for adding areas to the VSWI, with a form online. If there are extensive changes proposed it would be good to start with a conversation with them. These changes must go for a 30-day comment period.  In response to the question “what if a location is added to the VSWI while a project is underway? When do the developer’s rights vest?” they said they would provide a response in the responsiveness summary. <But note, this comes after the comment period is over.>  I thought this slide was interesting. It shows that under the proposed rule it would be permissible to build in a delineated wetland if it’s not included in VSWI: Page 2 of 3  Page 3 of 3