Growing anti-social behavior at City Hall Park in Burlington and a resolution to address the problem were the key topics of debate Monday night during the City Council’s public comment period and councilor debate.
A multi-million-dollar upgrade to City Hall Park, completed in 2020, was intended to cultivate an accessible family-friendly space downtown. But instead, it has been plagued with crime including open drug use and violence. Among the latest incidents: Mid-day on August 11th a man was beaten to death by juveniles in the park. A resolution before the council calls for the city to “make all reasonable efforts to maintain the presence of public safety personnel and enforce all applicable laws...to address criminality and other unwelcoming behavior.”
Mad River Distillers is across the street from the park. Co-owner John Egan told councilors business is down and employee fear is up.
“Customers consistently tell us they no longer feel safe coming down here because of the park. We’ve seen our revenues this year fall by over 50 percent, so we’re in a sort of an unsustainable position,” Egan told councilors. “And I think we need to help those in need. But the city cannot let its economic and cultural heart be destroyed through inaction.”
Downtown resident Adam Franz is appalled that the resolution was being considered. The resolution calls for a review of national best practices, requests support from the Governor’s office to address the issue and a report on how police staffing levels impact park patrols .
“There is no vision for how this city is going to address the actual problems contributing to what we see in the park and across this city. This resolution will do nothing except make everybody’s lives worse,” asserted Franz.
During council debate key sponsor Ward 5 Democrat Ben Traverse noted a number of initiatives are addressing community safety and illegal and unsafe activity.
“The significant problem though is that despite these best efforts, these efforts are being outpaced by increasing criminality,” Traverse said. “If we are going to be a resilient community in the face of all the turbulence happening outside of Burlington, we have to take care of our own house. And from my perspective it starts in City Hall Park.”
The council passed the resolution on a 9 to 2 vote with one absent.
