Voice for the Potash Brook Watershed
Our Purpose
Citizens for Responsible Zoning came together in 2019 in response to the announcement that Burton Snowboards was planning to host a 1,500 seat HigherGround largest indoor rock venue in Vermont at their Burlington location. The scope of this project is wrong for an area surrounded by neighborhoods housing hundreds of senior citizens, moderate income residents, and families with children. The proposed venue raises issues of noise, traffic and safety, scale, fit with the character of the neighborhoods, impact on infrastructure, and more.This project led to the creation of the CRZ, however, we see ourselves as an ongoing organization that will continue to advocate for responsible development. In 2021, the CRZ joined with the Voices for the Potash Brook Watershed, a 501c3 nonprofit, as a part of their smart growth focus.As an all-volunteer community group we have maintained active engagement in all aspects of the planning and permitting process in a stand for responsible development to influence the scale and mitigate the negative impacts of this project. Members spent months meeting with Burton trying to collaborate and work towards a project that the neighbors could endorse that would consider long-term public and environmental impact. We are engaged in this effort because we care deeply about our neighbors, want to continue to protect our quiet neighborhoods and foster the best possible place for young and old to live, work, and play.