Lawmakers are facing tough criticism over proposals to regulate development along the state’s shorelands.
The Senate will consider legislation that would require a permit to build within a protected distance of the shoreline. The bill is intended to mitigate water runoff and protect water quality and aquatic habitat.
The Lake Shoreland Protection Commission held a sometimes emotional public hearing in Montpelier on Wednesday night. Concerned property owners are fighting the proposal while some environmental advocates say plans don’t go far enough.
Sen. Diane Snelling, R-Chittenden, a member of the commission, said the state must take action to clean up troubled water bodies.
“It’s hard when people accuse you, personally, of trying to take their property,” Snelling said after the hearing. “I have no interest in that. And I really do think it is about every single individual in Vermont recognizing their responsibility. And I don’t know how we persuade people that that’s what has to happen before we can actually get to the policies we need.”
H.526, a bill requiring a permit to build within 250 feet of any shoreline under certain conditions, passed the House last year. The bill is now lodged in the Senate. The Senate Natural Resources and Energy committee has been discussing the House bill during the opening week of the Legislature.
The Senate has a bill to require an Act 250 permit to build within a protected area. Snelling, vice chair of the Natural Resources and Energy committee, is sponsoring the bill.
Some residents say the proposals infringe on the rights of property owners without making significant strides to enhance the state’s water quality.
Bill Steinmetz of Wells is president of the Lake Saint Catherine Conservation Fund. He said the state should first address critical sources of lake pollution.
“If we’re 8 percent of phosphorous loading, roughly, and the fact is the water that leaves our lakes is much cleaner – much cleaner, than anything in Lake Champlain – why are we the target for regulation? We don’t have a problem. And at least right now, we are not contributing,” Steinmetz said after the hearing.
He said he prefers the creation of a strategic plan for each lake rather than a one-size-fits-all statewide permit, as proposed in the House bill.
“I think I’m open to the argument that, over time, it could get worse and we need to do something. But that’s not a fire drill. That’s not a rush to legislative regulation. That’s an argument for let’s have a strategic plan specifically for each lake. What we find is that each of our lakes is different,” he said.
Steinmetz said the House bill lacks the necessary details to understand what a permit requirement would look like.
“We believe the bill is poorly executed because it refers to regulatory details to be determined, to be circulated and reviewed,” he told the commission. “We believe the devil is in the details. And that those details should be included in the bill for all of us to review.”
One environmental advocacy group says the House bill does not go far enough.
“There’s quite a few things in the House bill we would like to see strengthened,” said Kim Greenwood, water program director and staff scientist for the Vermont Natural Resources Council.
“For instance, we would like to see a prohibition on building within so many feet, just flat out. You can’t put your house or camp right on the edge of the lake, for instance. The House bill doesn’t have that. It lets you build wherever in a lake-friendly way. And there is some issue with municipal delegation, we would like to make sure all the towns that are delegated have some basic level of protection, and the House bill doesn’t have that, necessarily,” she said.
Other residents support the policy proposals to regulate shorelands, which they say are a public asset that must be protected.
“Water quality is like air quality — everyone has a right to both and they both affect everyone,” Don Hendrich told the commission.
Hendrich, the director of Lake Memphremagog for the Federation of Vermont Lakes and Ponds, said Vermont is the only Northeast state without any statewide regulation for shoreline development.
Sen. Bob Hartwell, D-Bennington, chair of the Natural Resources and Energy Committee, said the Senate version of the House bill could be drafted as soon as next week.
