BURLINGTON — Even before it started, the City of Burlington has pulled the plug on a controversial plan to allow up to a dozen homeless families park overnight on the shores of Lake Champlain.

The City said it wants to “indefinitely pause implementation” of the  Safe Overnight Parking project planned for a gravel lot at Perkins Pier at the end of Maple Street.  It was due to start Friday night.

The pilot project, first made public by Vermont News First on Tuesday, was not well received in the community and turned out to not be even vetted with stakeholders and local residents.

Local businesses, including restaurants, law firms, offices and others in the area say they were caught blindside by the news story.

The City of Burlington eventually held a hastily called press conference with two hours’ notice Wednesday afternoon to provide details for the program.  One day later the program was in the breakdown lane, according to Progressive Party Mayor Emma Mulvaney-Stanak.

“The administration came to this decision based on substantial community feedback, and out of concern for the safety of program participants based on threatening comments made by members of the public on various online platforms,” Mulvaney-Stanak’s office  said in a news release Thursday afternoon.

The Mayor did not specify what she perceived as threats, who made them or where they were posted. 

While not telling the general public about the plan, the city on Tuesday had alerted a small group of social service agencies, including the HowardCenter, Pathways, Turning Point, Spectrum,  COTS and the Community Health Center of Burlington about the parking program.

Vermont News First also has learned the initial discussion had the pilot project planned for the Burlington Police Department at 1 North Avenue, but current construction made the parking unavailable.

It was unclear who was going to be responsible for ensuring the safety and enforcing the rules the city said it was implementing with the program.

The city said in its announcement that it does not have the resources or staff capacity to address the need for shelter or services for the homeless.

The plan was for the homeless families, who were to get picturesque views of sunsets over Lake Champlain, had to pre-register for one of the dozen spots each night from 6 p.m. to 8 a.m.

The city said the pilot program was expected to run Friday night through Aug. 15.

The program was designed to provide safe overnight parking for those that are homeless.  The city said it reserved the right to revoke a permit due to problem behavior, threats to safety, destruction of property, theft, illegal behavior and violations of the program rules.

The rules prohibited children from being left unattended for any length of time.

The rules also prohibited illegal substances on the property and mandated quiet hours from 10 p.m. to 7 a.m. under a city ordinance.

The pilot project was in response to families needing a safe place to park overnight after losing hotel rooms designated by the state for the homeless, according to Sarah Russell, Burlington’s special assistant to end homelessness.

She said the city was willing to pay for a portable ADA toilet to be installed and maintained.

The city planned to waive parking fees that it might have collected from the lot, she said.  The city also expected to cover lighting, security cameras and the parking passes for the hours and dates used.

The city wants the state to fix the homeless situation.

“We continue to call on State officials to ensure stable shelter is available to households as they wait for permanent affordable housing to be secured,” the statement from the Mayor said.