299 Hildred Dr # 299

The first-due engine company encountered heavy smoke and fire issuing from the enclosed back porch of the residence. Firefighters stretched a hose line to the rear porch of the single-family wood-framed structure and extinguished the fire within four minutes after arrival. After opening the ceiling of the adjacent kitchen to check for fire extension, crews noted that fire had not extended through the walls into the residence. Due to the high intensity of heat and flashover conditions on the rear porch, the fire began to burn through the exterior door leading from the porch to the kitchen prior to extinguishment. 16 firefighters worked for approximately one-half hour to completely extinguish this fire and perform overhaul operations. As this fire occurred at shift change, extra personnel responded on each apparatus beyond the typical 12 -14 firefighters.

During the course of this fire investigation, it became apparent that an occupant attempted to extinguish the fire with pots filled with kitchen faucet water, but decided to evacuate the structure prior to opening the kitchen door leading to the porch. If the occupant had opened the kitchen door, a serious tragedy may have occurred, as the occupant would have been immediately overcome by heavy fire and superheated smoke from the porch.

Total fire loss is estimated at $50,000 (property) and $5,000 (contents), and was limited to the exterior rear porch and interior kitchen walls. Estimated property value is $334,500 and contents are valued at an estimated $100,000. No firefighters or civilians were injured during this incident. This property is owned by Daniel DeVan of Massachusetts, and was rented to a family of four at the time of the fire. The building was insured by the property owner, but the occupants did not have renter’s insurance at the time of the fire.

The Burlington Fire Marshal’s Office investigated this fire and determined the cause to be accidental in nature – careless disposal of hot fireplace ash in a paper bag on the rear porch wood steps. This fire smoldered overnight after the ashes were placed on the back porch at approximately 6:00 pm on Monday, December 26.

The public is reminded that hot ashes from a fireplace or woodstove should only be disposed of in a metal container with a lid that is able to be secured. The container should be stored outside of the structure and clear of all combustible materials. All homes should also have functioning and properly placed photoelectric smoke and carbon monoxide detectors in place on each floor and near each sleeping area to notify occupants in the event of a fire. In this case, smoke detectors did not initially activate until the house windows inside the porch failed due to high heat, as all smoke and fire was initially confined to the exterior rear porch. The Fire Marshal’s Office would also like to emphasize that the only correct actions to take in the event of a fire in an occupied structure is to immediately evacuate the structure and report the fire by calling 9-1-1.

Rather than pay the $285 membership dues to the Lake Champlain Regional Chamber of Commerce, I’ve chosen to donate this money to the Stop the F35 campaign. The F35s will create intolerable noise pollution potentially damaging to the developing hearing of young children, spew benzene and other toxic chemicals into our air and lakes, make parts of South Burlington unlivable thus reducing the number of housing units in an already tight real estate market. Of course the F35, which is being sold to totalitarian regimes in the Middle East, is designed to kill. The F35 provided no greater military advantage over our enemies that the F15s currently housed at the airport. In fact the billions of dollars spent of the development of these planes could much better be spent to curb the war through humanitarian and social missions.

BCA’s request for the study irked some in the south end who were advocating for the district status. Eric Ford defended the study in a letter to Seven Days. I have reposted the letter below. It can be found on the Seven Days Web Site

Artists in All Directions
In response to Shay Totten’s article “Slow: Artists at Work” [May 12], I would like to clarify the position of Burlington City Arts on the designation of the South End Arts District. The portion of the resolution that was altered — after the consideration and collaboration of South End Arts and Business Association director Roy Feldman and BCA director Doreen Kraft — was the removal of Arts District way-finding signs until a plan of action is developed, assessing the marketing of the arts throughout the entire city of Burlington, including the South End. We at BCA are very excited to be working with Roy Feldman and SEABA to expand on the ideas set forth by this resolution.

There is no denying that there is a critical mass of artists living and working in the South End, and that the South End has played a historic role in the Burlington art scene. But we need to go further before a true arts district is created. Artists working and living in the city are half of the picture, the second half being venues existing to show and sell art — not just in the South End but in the entire city. Currently, it would be confusing to send the public via signs to an arts district where access to public art spaces with regular hours is extremely limited. We need to work together to put aside politics and personal feelings and create a place where art can be seen more than once a month or one weekend a year in Burlington. We hope to find real solutions to the absence of art venues in this town and face the problem head on, but only with the support of all the players, including the artists and businesses in the South End and all of greater Burlington, the city council, Community and Economic Development Office, Lake Champlain Regional Chamber of Commerce and, especially, the board and staff of SEABA.

Eric Ford
Westford
Ford is the communication director for Burlington City Arts.

“I recently wrote to my city council member about chickens. A few months ago, my house was forced to get rid of more than half our flock. We too are a two-family household, and 4 chickens is a laughable maximum number of chickens, unless the city’s incentive is to deny people the ability to feed themselves and their neighbors…Anyhow, I am waiting to hear back from my council member (he seems pretty supportive of this issue), who has contacted the Board of Health, Code Enforcement and the city attorney’s office.”

I’ve heard other stories of residents needing to give up chickens. I personally and pleased that neighbors are taking control of raising their own food, and don’t see any reason not to allow them to raise chickens. It sounds like most chickens will lay only one egg a day, so two families of four are not going to get far with only four chickens between them.

One neighbor a few blocks away seems to have 8 or so chickens. I don’t know him personally, but I do see him running up and down Cliff Street every now and again chasing the one’s who have escaped. It is quite a sight as his chickens have a wide variety of colorful plumage.

Another neighbor, curious about the limit on the number of  chickens per house, did a bit of research. He didn’t find regulation that limited the number to four. He found

It is illegal to sell dyed chickens, but it does not appear to be illegal to have chickens in your backyard.  I don’t see where this number comes from, whether it is three or four.  I have heard rumors of that number outside of FPF as well, but looking at the law (I am not a laywer!) it certainly appears that you can have quite a lot of chickens before you become a ‘farm’. There is a chapter called “Animals & Fowl” (chapter 5).  There is nothing there that says you can or cannot have more or less than any number of chicken or fowl.  But don’t bring them to church st!

I have heard that one home in the New North End of Burlington has two milking-cows. The home is adjacent to the Intervale and perhaps zoned both residential and agricultural.

Chickens tend to be a generally quiet bird, but I’ve heard that one resident a few years ago needed to give up her rooster because the crowing was too much for the neighbors.

You can search the burlington city code at
http://library4.municode.com/default-test/home.htm?infobase=13987&doc_action=whatsnew

Vermont state law can be found at
http://www.leg.state.vt.us/statutes/statutetextsearch.cfm

Pike Porter | Castle Porter Real Estate | (802) 233-2600 58 Hyde Street, Burlington, VT Snazzy, upscale, loft-style duplex with open floor plans, whirlpool tubs, hip details, and a great backyard with stone patio. An abundance of natural 3BR/2BA Multi-Family, 2 units offered at $352,000 Year Built 1899 Sq Footage 2,500 Bedrooms 3 Bathrooms 2 full, 0 partial Floors 2 Parking 2 Uncovered spaces Lot Size 6,098 sqft HOA/Maint $0 per month DESCRIPTION Snazzy, upscale, loft-style duplex with open floor plans, whirlpool tubs, hip details, and a great backyard with stone patio. An abundance of natural light and close to downtown, these units are designed to relax and entertain. This home is a short walk to downtown and currently renting for $2,500/month. see additional photos below PROPERTY FEATURES - High/Vaulted ceiling - Hardwood floor - Family room - Laundry area – inside ADDITIONAL PHOTOS Photo 2 Photo 1 Photo 1 Photo 3 Photo 4 Photo 5 Contact info: Pike Porter Castle Porter Real Estate (802) 233-2600 For sale by agent/broker Equal Opportunity Housing Posted: Aug 17, 2010, 6:25am PDT

]]> http://www.startinghome.com/hyde-street-burlington-vt-525/feed 0 http://www.startinghome.com/burlington-school-district-magnet-schools-513 http://www.startinghome.com/burlington-school-district-magnet-schools-513#comments Fri, 09 Jul 2010 21:18:25 +0000 Pike http://www.startinghome.com/?p=513 I occasionally work with home buyers looking to purchase a home in a particular neighborhood in Burlington so that their children can attend the school located within the neighborhood. In the fall of 2009, Burlington opened two magnet schools and has changed the way children are enrolled in the district. As one school commissioner wrote in an email to me recently, “moving into a particular area of town does not at this time guarantee that one’s children will be able to attend the school closest, especially if registering late.”

The first of the magnet schools is the Sustainability Academy at Lawrence Barnes, the first magnet school in the country with an emphasis on sustainability. “It includes things like social justice, civic engagement, things as simple as local foods, as recycling in the school, composting, things like that,” explained Anne Tewksbury-Fry, a sustainability schools coach at Barnes Elementary in a WCAX interview.

The second school is the Integrated Arts Academy at the H.O Wheeler school.

The schools were conceived in part because schools like Champlain Elementary were filled to capacity with students and in part to counter the high poverty rate and low test scores at Wheeler and Barnes by encouraging parents and children from other parts of the city to enroll in these two schools. Not all parents are pleased that they may need to send their children to a school not in their immediate neighborhood. People buy real estate in particular neighborhoods of Burlington so as to send their children to a particular school.  Real estate in the south end of Burlington is more expensive in part because of the school district. Some real estate agencies, particularly Coldwell Banker Hickok Boardman, have made the wise decision not to advertise a parcel of Burlington real estate as within any one particular school district and instead advertising that the school is “district assigned.”

Burlington is not alone in its struggle to weigh the concerns of parents and student test scores against education costs, and property taxes. I expect that in the future Vermont will see many school districts merge into fewer, larger districts in order to cut costs. This has worked successfully in Maine.

The statue is covered up for its official unvieling, but here are a few sneak peeks– my first news scoop.

The following is from Joe Reinert, Assistant to the Burlington Mayor. The opinion below are from Mayor Kiss and do not represent my opinions:

The City will hold four public informational meetings related to the Champlain Parkway project.  Each meeting will provide an overview of the entire project, while also focusing on a specific topic:

-  Mobility Issues: Project Performance for Automobiles, Bicycles, and Pedestrians.  TUESDAY, MAY 25, 6:30 PM, Champlain Elementary School, 800 Pine Street.

-  Neighborhood and Community Issues. WEDNESDAY, MAY 26, 6:30 PM, Contois Auditorium, City Hall.

-  Economic Development. WEDNESDAY, JUNE 9, 6:30 PM, Water Treatment Plant Conference Room, 234 Penny Lane (at the south end of Lake Street).

-  Environmental Issues. THURSDAY, JUNE 10, 6:30 PM, Burlington Electric Department, 585 Pine Street.

The Champlain Parkway will construct and rehabilitate approximately 2.4 miles of roadway, pedestrian, and bicycle facilities commencing at the interchange of I-189 with US 7 in the City of South Burlington and extending westerly and northerly to the intersection of Pine Street with Main Street within the City of Burlington’s City Center District (CCD).  Between Home Avenue and Lakeside Avenue, new roadway will be constructed on already acquired right-of-way.  From Lakeside Avenue to Pine Street and terminating at Main Street the Parkway will use existing roadways, and construction will consist of rehabilitation and improvements to the existing streets. The roadway will consist of one lane in each direction with turn lanes and traffic signals at certain intersections. Pedestrian facilities include sidewalks, shared-use paths, cross-walks and actuated pedestrian phasing at signalized intersections. Bicycle facilities include the shared-use paths and on-road components.

Mayor Kiss encourages residents to come to the meetings to learn more. “The Champlain Parkway is a project that benefits Burlington in several ways.  It will provide relief to South End neighborhoods from truck traffic they currently experience and improves intersections throughout the entire route of the project, while enhancing bicycle and pedestrian access. It will create and enhance economic development opportunities in the Pine Street corridor.  It complements and supports potential access to and development within the south end of the Waterfront. I look forward to continuing to move forward on the project and making the Champlain Parkway a reality after more than 40 years of planning and analysis.  I hope residents come to these meetings to learn more about the project and ask any questions they may have.”

After holding the informational meetings the City will apply for an Act 250 permit for the project. At its May 17 meeting, the City Council passed a resolution endorsing the public informational process and authorized the City to move forward with the Act 250 permit (http://www.ci.burlington.vt.us/docs/1988.pdf ). For more information about the project, go to http://www.ci.burlington.vt.us, call the Burlington Department of Public Works at 863-9094, or read more about at  Vermont Department of Transportation.

Interior of the Diner

This diner, delivered to Shelburne Road in 1954, was known as Wesson’s Diner and Cosmos Diner.
It is in excellent condition, complete with original booths, tables, stools and pie case. The interior is yellow and grey with original Formica counter and yellow and grey ceramic floor tile. Booth and stool upholstery were redone in the ’70s.
A new rubber membrane roof was installed in October 2003 and windows were reglazed. The green enamel vertical fluted panels are included, but not currently on the diner. The diner has been well cared for since removal
from its original site in 2001.

Because of the role that diners have played in American cultural history as well as this diner’s role in Burlington’s history, buyers will need to use the building as a community gathering spot, open to the public. Appropriate uses include a restaurant, coffee shop, a pub or some other related use. As with any historic structure, the architectural integrity should be preserved, and restoration be consistent with the design, materials and style of the period in which the diner was built.

The diner is being offered for $45,000. The diner is currently stored on private property and can be shown to interested  buyers demonstrating they can and will use the diner as a public gathering place. For more information, please call me at 802.233.2600