WILMINGTON-The most controversial parts of Vermont's Act 181 don't apply to Windham County's efforts to plan for town-center development, housing, or the development of private land, the Windham Regional planning chief told the Wilmington Selectboard on May 5.
Chris Campany, executive director of the Windham Regional Commission, outlined frequently asked questions about the law amid expectations that the Legislature will soon repeal measures that regulate landowners' ability to build more than a certain length of road on their property, and impose a strict environmental review on areas deemed environmentally very sensitive.
Since the meeting, the House of Representatives has voted to partially repeal the act. VTDigger and Vermont Public have reported that Leaders of the Senate, which had advocated delaying implementation of Act 181, are poised to support the House plan.
The lawmakers are poised to repeal the so-called Road Rule and the "Tier 3" requirement to order an official development review for sensitive areas.
But even if these aspects of the law remain, they won't affect the Windham County plan, Campany told the Wilmington meeting.
"There is nothing in the regional plan or on the future land-use map that influences the (Land Use Review Board's) designation and mapping of Tier 3 lands," Campany said in a presentation to the board.
Neither are the regional plan and future land-use map related to the Road Rule, he said.
A Tier 3 designation is a matter for the Land Use Review Board, a state panel charged with implementing the law but which said in April it is suspending its work on the two controversial parts of the law, pending action by lawmakers.
Despite worries about the reach of Act 181, former state representative Ann Manwaring welcomed what she heard at the meeting.
"I actually felt pretty good about what I was hearing tonight," she said. "I have been a little bit concerned about how the layering of regulations all come together and work, and how they are going to change for us."
She called the expected repeal of two parts of Act 181 "a good thing for Wilmington."
On the question of whether any parts of the regional plan and future land-use map will influence whether a project will be subject to jurisdiction under Act 250 - which aims to balance development and environmental protection - Campany said that will depend on whether those areas provide full or partial exemption as "Tier 1a or 1b" from review under that law.
"As part of our regional future land-use mapping process, we are working with towns to determine whether or not there are areas they'd like to be considered for Tier 1a or 1b," he said. "If those areas are accepted by the [Land Use Regulation Board] through the regional plan approval process, the Act 250 rules related to Tier 1a or 1b will be applied," he said.
Despite Vermont's statewide shortage of affordable housing, and the existence of regional housing targets, towns such as Wilmington are not required to plan for the construction of new homes.
"Whether or not a town chooses to develop a town plan, adapt or update zoning, invest in infrastructure, make town land available for housing development [...] remains the decision of the town," he said. "Towns are not expected to actually get into the home-building business."
Campany urged officials to recognize the realities of housing in Vermont, and to plan accordingly.
"Unless there's a dramatic positive change in Vermonters' incomes, and a drastic decrease in land and construction costs, the future of housing will need to include two-family dwellings and multi-family dwellings," he said.
While he said Vermont is "deep in a housing crisis that was decades in the making," towns can build infrastructure, streamline zoning and permitting, and provide access to the land. By contrast, regional commissions like WRC can help with high-level planning but lack towns' authority to act.
"To that end, it's often supporting the work of towns where we can make the most difference," he said.
Even if Tier 3 remains part of the law, it does not mean that land within that area can't be developed. If land falls into that category, it means that any development in that area may have to go through the Act 250 process.
In its efforts to educate the public and local officials on how Act 181 relates to the regional plan, the commission is especially focused on mapping centers and growth areas that would be eligible for Tier 1a and 1b status under the law, Campany said.
"The new land-use categories are very similar in both type and number to what the Windham Regional Plan has used for more than 20 years so the new categories do not represent a major change for the region or the towns," he said.
A version of this story appeared in The Deerfield Valley News, The Commons' sister newspaper.
This News item by Jon Hurdle originally appeared in The Deerfield Valley News and was republished in The Commons with permission.