May 28, 2024 | By Lisa Scagliotti

Although no specific plan has been announced to repurpose the former Vermont National Guard armory in Waterbury as a homeless shelter yet, local and state officials recently met for a hearing on if and when such a plan might require a town zoning permit.

*After a flurry of construction updates made in February and March to prepare it for future use, the Waterbury armory remains vacant and unused. Photo by Gordon Miller*

The Waterbury Development Review Board on May 16 held a special meeting to hear from lawyers for the state of Vermont regarding local zoning requirements should the state look to open a shelter at the facility on Armory Drive in downtown Waterbury in the future.

In January, state officials from the Agency of Human Services included the Waterbury location in discussing plans with state lawmakers about the ongoing need to house hundreds of individuals and families.

In subsequent public meetings in Waterbury, state officials outlined to the community and local government leaders how a Waterbury facility could fit into the state’s emergency housing program. The proposal took local officials by surprise and generated much community interest and concern for how a shelter would operate and fit in with the surrounding community. Public meetings held by the Waterbury Select Board drew several hundred people in person and via Zoom.

At those meetings, Chris Winters, commissioner of the Department for Children and Families which oversees the state’s shelter program, explained that should the plan to use the Waterbury facility move forward, the state would contract with an agency to run a shelter here.

In February, Waterbury Zoning Administrator Mike Bishop wrote to the state Buildings and General Services Commissioner Jennifer Fitch saying that local regulations would require a change of use permit for the armory facility if its future use was not directly operated by state or federal government employees.

Two weeks later, an assistant attorney general for the state replied disagreeing with Bishop’s decision and appealing to the town Development Review Board.

During February and March, the state had construction contractors on site at the armory to make improvements to the facility in preparation for it to be used in the future. Work included adding a fire sprinkler system, upgrading a water line, and other updates to the building’s infrastructure. At the time, the state was expecting a change in its hotel-motel program on April 1 that would have triggered a need for new shelter facilities, potentially including the Waterbury armory.

But that deadline passed with no crisis as the state legislature and administration worked out a new plan that maintained the hotel-motel program funding and eliminated a need for a shelter in Waterbury to date. Funding was put into the fiscal year 2025 state budget to continue the program using hotels and motels around the state to house hundreds of people.

The review board, however, still proceeded to follow its schedule to review the state’s appeal.

Given the high public interest at previous public meetings held by the Waterbury Select Board, the Development Review Board met at the Main Street firestation for the hearing on May 16. The meeting, however, drew just a dozen community members including members of the Waterbury Select Board and one of the town’s two state representatives.

Ahead of the hearing, the review board received a letter dated May 14 from Bartholomew Gengler, an attorney representing the Vermont Agency of Human Resources, and Ryan Kane, the state’s deputy solicitor general. They wrote requesting that the town withdraw Bishop’s February memo stating that a future use of the armory run by non-government staff would require a local change of use permit.

Their reasons were that Bishop’s decision “was issued without jurisdiction, that the issue is now moot, and that any future controversy is speculative and not ripe for adjudication.”

In attendance at the hearing were Waterbury Planning Director Neal Leitner and Bishop, who was a witness explaining his determination regarding the permit requirement.

The lawyers for the state told the board that the state so far has not decided what the next use will be for the armory. In fact, officials at Buildings and General Services have suggested the property could be used for a multitude of functions instead of a shelter.

According to Leitner, the state’s lawyers maintained that given no specific plan has been put forward for a shelter at the armory, it has not been determined whether state employees or contracted workers would be operating the facility under a future use.

State Rep. Theresa Wood, D-Waterbury, who chairs the House Human Services Committee, attended the hearing and commented to the review board on the matter.

“They were leaving the impression that the state may choose to operate the shelter,” Wood said afterward. “I commented that, in my experience as chair of the House Human Services Committee, the committee of jurisdiction with regard to these shelters, the state does not operate any of the shelters located throughout the state, they are all done under contract.”

Wood also noted that legislation passed this spring allocates $10 million in one-time funds for the operation of shelters, and $7.5 million for permanent, ongoing shelters.

Given its quasi-judicial role, the Development Review Board deliberates in closed session.

Following the hearing, Leitner said that the board unanimously agreed to uphold the zoning administrator’s determination. The board has 45 days from the May 16 hearing to issue its decision in writing. After that, the state has 15 days to file an appeal if it chooses; an appeal would be to the state Environmental Court.

Shayla Livingston, Director of Policy for the state Agency of Human Services, responded to a request for comment in the matter from Waterbury Roundabout. Livingston said she could not comment on the board’s decision without having had an official notice of it yet.

When asked if and when the state might consider the Waterbury armory as a potential shelter facility, Livingston said that recent legislation asks the agency for an updated shelter plan that looks ahead to the fall and winter. That plan is to be prepared by July 15, she said.

In their memo to the review board prior to the hearing, Gengler and Kane wrote that the state would keep communication open with town officials regarding future plans for the armory:

“The State will continue to work with the Town of Waterbury to keep it informed of the State’s plans for the Waterbury Armory. It may very well be the case that a future use of the Waterbury Armory will require a change-in-use permit; however, that is a determination that must wait until the State makes decisions regarding how it will operate any project at the Waterbury Armory.”