The question of whether future use of the Waterbury Armory will require local approval appears to be headed to the state’s environmental court.
The State of Vermont filed an appeal on July 22 of the Waterbury Development Review Board’s June 20 decision, agreeing with Zoning Administrator Mike Bishop’s statement of the circumstances that would require the state to obtain a municipal zoning permit for future use of the armory.
The armory, formerly used by the Vermont National Guard for decades, was decommissioned in December 2022 and has sat vacant since then. The property is now managed by the Vermont Department of Buildings and General Services.
Vermont Attorney General Charity Clark, through Assistant Attorney General Ryan Kane, filed an appeal with the Environmental Division of the Vermont Supreme Court on behalf of Buildings and General Services and the Vermont Agency of Human Services.
It was last winter when officials with the state Department of Children and Families expressed interest in using the Waterbury facility as a possible 40-bed shelter for homeless individuals who would leave a state-funded program and use motel and hotel rooms across the state as temporary housing.
The proposal, first made at a meeting with state legislators in Montpelier, surprised local officials and Waterbury community members. It also came on a tight schedule about two months before the planned April 1 opening.
Two Waterbury Select Board meetings on the issue drew dozens of residents who joined city officials in asking questions about the specifics of operating a home. Department of Children and Families Commissioner Chris Winters and several state employees provided general information but said details would be worked out by an operator the state would hire to run the home.
On Feb. 8, Bishop wrote to state building commissioner Jennifer Fitch, explaining that under local zoning code, the armory is a state-owned and government-operated facility. Should any future use require an operator that is not part of the state or federal government, it would trigger the need for a local change-of-use zoning permit, which would be reviewed by the Development Review Board, Bishop explained.
Ultimately, the state legislature changed course on its emergency shelter program and withdrew the Waterbury proposal. As the 2024 fiscal year ended on June 30, there was no plan that called for the Waterbury facility as a future shelter. However, details of the state’s emergency shelters for the coming winter have not yet been finalized.
Despite the change in the state’s plans, the Department of Buildings and Services appealed Bishop’s interpretation of the local zoning measures to the Waterbury Development Review Board, which issued its decision in June agreeing with Bishop’s view, which has now been answered with the state’s appeal to the Environmental Court.
In his appeal, Kane writes, “The (Zoning Administrator’s) decision was not based on a specific or final development proposal submitted for review by the State, but on undisclosed facts. The Zoning Administrator did not have the authority to make a final and binding decision as to whether the State required a permit under the circumstances.”
The court has not yet scheduled a hearing in the case. City Manager Tom Leitz said he had no comment on the matter at this time and the city attorney would prepare a response in advance of the court hearing.
Waterbury state Reps. Tom Stevens and Theresa Wood said they were not aware of any plans for emergency shelters in the near future that would include the Waterbury Armory.
