Lawmakers in Vermont’s House of Representatives have approved a bill that would make changes to Act 250, Vermont’s sweeping land use and development law, to encourage housing development in designated areas and protect natural resources.
Act 250, passed in 1970 to control sprawling development that came with the expansion of the ski industry, requires commercial and industrial developers to obtain a permit when they’re constructing projects. The process can often hold up development.
The bill, S.234, would alter the current law to make it easier for municipalities to access incentives under Act 250 and exempt projects in certain municipalities located in “development areas.”
Lawmakers passed the measure by voice vote on Wednesday, and it’s now headed to the Senate for final approval before being sent to the governor’s desk.
“This bill begins to loosen Act 250 jurisdiction in communities that have adopted good local mechanisms to ensure well located housing, while looking more closely at resources that are truly regional or statewide in nature,” said Rep. Seth Bongartz, D-Manchester, who spoke about the bill on the House floor on Tuesday.
The proposal also would mean larger housing development projects could be exempt from Act 250. Currently developers need to obtain an Act 250 permit if they are building “priority housing” projects with 25 or more housing units and are located in towns with 3,000 people or fewer. Under the proposal, that would increase to 50 or more units.
The new legislation also would require developers to prove that their project “will not result in an undue adverse impact on forest blocks, connecting habitat, or rare and irreplaceable natural areas.”
“This bill is a step toward the kind of deep systemic rethinking in which we need to engage as we prepare to meet the dual challenges of dramatic climate change and a growing population,” Bongartz said.
Another significant change to the program: The bill proposes “changing the structure, function, and name of the Natural Resources Board,” the body that oversees Act 250. Instead, it would be administered by an Environmental Review Board, which would have a full-time chair and four half-time members. Proponents say the new design would improve citizens’ interactions with the law.
Board members would have “experience, expertise, or skills relating to one or more of the following areas: environmental science, natural resources law and policy, land use planning, community planning, or environmental justice,” the bill states.
“They will discern problems with the system and they will see opportunities to make it better,” Bongartz said. “They will be a trusted resource. We don’t have that now. It’s a missing piece out of the entire process.”
In a recent letter to lawmakers, Karen Horn, director of public policy and advocacy at the Vermont League of Cities and Towns, criticized the bill because she said it would “continue to contribute to the difficulty in developing the housing we all agree is critically needed in Vermont.”
Representatives of environmental groups around the state — including Vermont Natural Resources Council, Vermont Land Trust, North Woods Resource Group, Audubon Vermont, The Vermont Chapter of the Nature Conservancy and others — issued a statement urging lawmakers to support the bill before it passed on Wednesday.
The bill “takes important steps now to create affordable housing, and builds the necessary foundation to do more, but this cannot happen overnight without making important improvements to our Designated Areas programs,” they wrote in the statement. “S.234 takes this important step, and we support S.234 for modernizing Act 250 in a thoughtful way.”
