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BERNIE WOOS ENVIRONMENTALISTS
BURLINGTON
M
ayor Ber nie Sander s is
wooing the state's envi-
r onmental c ommunity
to join the f ight against a pr o-
posed 420,OOO-squar e-f oot
"mega-mall" in Williston.
Last Thur sday, Sander s,
along with key member s of
his administr ation, met with
the leader s of f ive statewide
envir onmental gr oups who
wer e invited to disc uss tbe
pr ojec t, whic h would be built
on land owned by the Pyr a-
mid Companies of Syr ac use,
New Yor k.
Nine year s ago, the Distr ic t
4Envir onmental Commission
denied Pyr amid an A c t 250
per mit f or a slightly lar ger pr o-
posal. Dur ing that dehate, sev-
er al envir onmental gr oups,
inc luding some that wer e invit-
ed to last week's meeting,
opposed the pr ojec t.
"To be honest, we'r e map-
ping out a str ategy ," Sander s
said, when asked about the
meeting. "We intend to def eat
this mall.
"What we'r e tr ying to do is
involve as many people as we
c an in the f ight," Sande r s said,
adding that he hoped the envi-
r onmental gr oups would "be-
c ome ac tively involved in the
str uggle. "
A c c or ding to those inatten-
danc e, the hour -long meeting
essentially involved exc hang-
ing inf or mation about the c on-
tr over sial mall pr ojec t. Itis
f or mally c alled M aple Tr ee
Plac e, and is being developed
by Ben Fr ank-a f or mer de-
par tment stor e exec utive who
now r esides in Stowe-in par t-
ner ship with Pyr amid.
A t last week's City Hall
meeting, administr ation of f i-
c ials also laid Out some of their
c onc er ns about the pr ojec t.
"M y view is this issue of Pyr-
amid is a statewide envir on-
mental issue and may be the
most impor tant issue f ac ing
us as a state," Sander s said.
The mayor believes that if
the Williston mall is built, oth-
er malls will be pr oposed,
potentially destr oying ur ban
c enter s as well as subur ban
c ountr ysides. Sande r s also said
he planned to dr um up oppo-
sition to the pr ojec t f r om c ity
leader s in Rutland and M ont-
pelier , whose downtowns,
Sander s said, would be des-
tr oyed if malls c ontinue to be
built.
M onte Fisc her , the exec u-
tive dir ec tor of the Ver mont
Natur al Resour c es Counc il,
agr eed that the WilJ iston pr o-
posal had f ar -r eac hing impli-
c ations and c ould be a "pr e--
c edent-setting c ase. "
No c ommitments wer e made
by the envir onmental gr oups,
though the heads of the or gan-
izations said it was likely they
would join the str uggle af ter
c onsulting with their r espec -
tive dec ision-making boar ds.
"We aU agr eed to go bac k
to OUf or ganizations' dec ision-
making Ibodies Iand do the
best we c an to evaluate the
inf or mation at hand and to get
bac k together again," Fisc her
said. "We have not agr eed to
set up a c oalition. "
"The c ity has an inter est in
opposition to the pr ojec t and
Ic er tainly expec t and hope
that gr oups like mine and oth-
er s will get involved," said Cor t
Ric har dson, the dir ec tor of the
Ver mont Public I nter est Re -
sear c h Gr oup.
"Ber nie's taken a lot of beat
fromenvir onmentalists, some
of it deser ved, " Ric har dson
said, r ef er r ing to c r itic ism
Sander s has r ec eived over the
time it has taken to c lose the
c ity landf ill and to f ix the c ity's
antiquated sewer system in
or der to stop disc har ges of r aw
sewage into Lake Champlain.
Sander s has also been c r iti-
c ized by some loc al envir on-
mentalists f or suppor ting the
$)00 million A lden Cor por a-
tion water f r ont development
plan in 1985. Rec ently, the
mayor has come under f ir e on
the issue of a pr oposed 32O-s1ip
mar ina in the Ne w Nor th End.
City of f ic ials, thr ough a wr it-
ten agr eement with the devel-
oper s, have signaled suppor t
f or a New Nor th End mar ina,
though Sande r s has yet to take
a public position on the pr ojec t.
But Ric har dson said, I oWhen
he's showing str ong leader ship
and [the issues ar e Ir ight f or
the envir onmentalists, it's sen-
sible f or us" to talk with the
c lty about possibly joining
f or c es, "as 10Dg as we keep an
independent stanc e" f r om the
c ity.
Ric har dson said he was
"impr essed with the c ity's pe0-
ple and their c onc er n about
the envir onment and gr owth. "
Sander s, ac c or ding to those
at the meeting, did not apply
any pr essur e on the envir on-
mental gr oups to join the f ight,
and Ric har dson said, "If we
want to geton boar d, it will be
bec ause we want to get on
boar d.
"I t's not just Bur lington
tr ying to pr eser ve its mar ket
and seeing who they c an r ope
in to help them," Ric har dson
said. "People ar e seeing a big
pr oblem and it's time to talk
and time to plan and time to
do something about it. "
Mark J ohns on