Business View Civil and Municipal | March 2021

149 CIVIL AND MUNICIPAL MARCH 2021 TOWN OF ESSEX & ESSEX JUNCT ION, VERMONT one to Burlington – the state’s most populous municipality. “We’ve been through a charette design process to come up with a new design for Essex Junction station,” Pierce says. “It’s currently being reviewed by some of the representatives from Vermont, who are in Congress to see if they can obtain some funding for us.” In addition to growing residential density and improving accessibility in the village’s downtown, the Chittenden Crossing development could solve some significant environmental issues. “The land that Chittenden Crossing will be built on is just a massive, expansive stretch of asphalt, all of which causes stormwater runoff, which we have to deal with,” Tyler explains. “When you get a new development like that on pre-existing asphalt, it comes with a really good stormwater plan. We can over-build stormwater capacity. There’s all kinds of good things besides more places for apartments and more economic activity.” “Also, with our new town center plan, we’re more affordable housing with a capital ‘A’ now because of the CHT,” Haney says. “We overlapped the village center area with a neighborhood designation, which incentivizes developers to provide affordable housing as part of their proposal,” adds Robin Pierce, Community Development Director for Essex Junction. “One of the Chittenden Crossing buildings is actually being developed in unison with the CHT. It’s all going to be affordable housing.” Essex Junction’s famous Five Corners intersection marks the site of the Chittenden Crossing project, a pedestrian-friendly, five- building, multi-use complex with 225 new apartment units and 29,600 square feet of commercial/retail space. “There’s a new road, the Crescent Connector bypass, which is going to reduce congestion at the Five Corners,” notes Pierce. “We also have a new crossing across the Amtrak main line. That’s sort of what inspired the name ‘Chittenden Crossing’.” The village center’s Amtrak station is the busiest train station in Vermont. It’s also the closest