This is a service / maintenance or supply contract in Burlington, Vermont. Contact the soliciting agency for additional information.

Burlington, Vermont's Office of City Planning is seeking to hire a Consultant or team to work in partnership with City staff to create the City of Burlington Preservation Plan. The City of Burlington's Preservation Plan, preserveBTV, will be a citywide visioning document, identifying priorities for preservation that will enable sustainable, long-term use of the city's historic structures. The consultant will be responsible for creating the Preservation Plan and providing staff and major stakeholders an assessment of the current historic districts within the city, a review of the framework for historic preservation within the city, a list of best practices for protecting the city's historic resources, and policy and regulatory recommendations. Once completed, preserveBTV will be integrated into the upcoming rewrite of Burlington's municipal development plan, and inform updates to the Comprehensive Development Ordinance (CDO). City Staff anticipates leading general engagement work related to this scope, but the consultant is expected to support the community engagement work, take into consideration major points from the engagement events into the Preservation Plan, and include all summaries from community engagement in the final deliverable. The City of Burlington Preservation Plan is supported in part by a Certified Local Government Program Grant from the State of Vermont Division for Historic Preservation. Goals of the Preservation Plan preserveBTV aims to achieve several important goals, including the following: 1. Create a strategic roadmap to advance adopted comprehensive plan goals to preserve and foster the City's distinctive identity by protecting historic and archaeological resources, while encouraging adaptive reuse, infill, and redevelopment. A successful preservation plan will identify and articulate interrelated community goals for preservation, affordable housing, adaptive reuse, economic development, equity, and our community's diverse cultural legacies. Ultimately, incorporation of a preservation plan in planBTV will memorialize the importance of local heritage and Burlington's built environment as a foundation upon which to build its future. As Burlington evolves, the needs of households change, and the climate emergency and housing crisis present new challenges for the built environment, questions have emerged about appropriate investment in and modifications to historic buildings. A key question that this plan will aim to address is how historic preservation regulations can support citywide goals of increasing access to affordable housing and incorporating critical climate adaptation and mitigation strategies. 2. Review and align historic regulations within the Comprehensive Development Ordinance with identified preservation priorities and appropriate municipal oversight. The Vermont Division for Historic Preservation has requested that Burlington's CDO distinguish between honorific listings in the State and National Registers of Historic Places and local designations for the purpose of regulation. Consultation with knowledgeable authorities and review of other adopted plans and model ordinances will be sought during this planning process to inform the city's approach to these interrelated regulatory issues. 3. Recommend priorities and actions for Burlington's preservation program moving forward, providing clarity on the identification, evaluation, and current status of surveyed areas. Burlington has several Historic Sites and Structures Surveys that remain in preservation limbo; neither officially deemed "eligible" for historic designation but providing individualized context for neighborhoods that merit updating and advancement. This plan will not commit the City to action, but it will identify key actions towards policy objectives, including the evaluation of current and identification of future historic resources. 4. Explore benefits to owners of historic properties, and incorporate recommendations that incentivize and support a positive approach to preservation. To simultaneously maintain the existing inventory of historic structures and achieve citywide goals, Burlington must identify and explore opportunities that incentivize the investment in historic buildings in a way that is financially viable for property owners and contributes to the resiliency of the broader community. Questions & Submissions emailed to: Charles Dillard, AICP, Interim Director cdillard@burlingtonvt.gov 802-865-7194 AND Sarah Morgan, Planner smorgan@burlingtonvt.gov 802-881-8505 Anticipated Budget: $200,000, may be negotiable based on offered scope of services Anticipated Deliverables: o Final historic preservation plan o All GIS data in shapefile format for the project Selections of the Consultant is expected to be completed in December, 2024, with final contracting and project commencement anticipated in January, 2025. Project must be completed no later than June 1, 2026. The method of Contractor Selection has not been Determined at this time.