WOLCOTT — Ah, rural Vermont. Not just the picture postcard but the everyday place where people live their lives. It may never be quite the same once Act 181 provisions cause the Act 250 hammer to fall.
And we do not have long to wait. If your property appears on the Tier 3 map, yet to be created, you will trigger Act 250 if you want to develop it. Act 250 may even apply to the building of a single-family home. The specifics will be determined when the rules are created. They are scheduled to become effective on December 31, 2026.
Also, starting on July 1, 2026, if you want to build a road longer than 800 feet on your property you automatically trigger an Act 250 review. That requirement affects all rural land, not just the Tier 3 areas.
These provisions are included in the 171-page Act 181 passed last year by the legislature over the governor’s veto. It is common knowledge that the bill reduces certain Act 250 requirements in cities and village centers. Few have understood how the trade-off, fashioned by housing and environmental stakeholders in their grand bargain, will subject much of rural Vermont inappropriately to Act 250 development review.
This needs explanation because the nuances of Act 181 are important. In the fall there will be public hearings to provide input to the newly created Land Use Review Board (LURB) that is charged with creating the program rules and the critical Tier 3 map.
In my opinion, many of the goals are well intended. Land containing important environmental attributes should be protected. Vermont already does a lot of this work through existing rules, regulations and programs, as well as by various organizations where key rights and properties are purchased from willing landowners. The wrong approach is to just subject the lands to extensive Act 250 control.
Most people not involved in developing projects may not be aware of all the provisions of Act 250 which were designed to ensure that major developments are done well. It lists 32 criteria and sub-criteria that need to be successfully addressed to obtain a permit. Act 181 adds a thirty-third criterion, the Tier 3 lands (act250.vermont.gov/act250-permit/criteria) and the road rule. Act 250 criteria are not appropriate for small projects or construction of a single-family home. Most of those criteria do not reasonably apply.
Act 181 can be accessed here at legislature.vermont.gov/Documents/2024/Docs/ACTS/ACT181/ACT181%20As%20Enacted.pdf for those that want to check the source. The definition of development covered by Act 250 on page 28 will now include, “the construction of improvements for commercial, industrial or residential purposes in a Tier 3 area as determined by the rules adopted by the Board.”
Next on Page 30, “The Board shall review the definition of the Tier 3 area; determine the critical natural resources that shall be included in Tier 3, giving due consideration to river corridors, headwater streams, habitat connectors of statewide significance, riparian areas, class A waters, and natural communities; any additional critical natural resources that should be added to the definition.” Those items cover a majority of the state.
Next, we have the Road Rule, pages 26-28. To build on any part of a property requiring a road of more than 800 feet from an existing road, the landowner will need to obtain an Act 250 permit. This new requirement encompasses a significant portion of many rural towns and is not limited to the Tier 3 areas. Just imagine the sheer number of complex Act 250 applications that will need to be created and processed just for this new rule, state-wide.
It should be noted that the Fish and Wildlife Department created the Vermont Conservation by Design Map (anr.vermont.gov/maps-and-mapping/biofinderlink). On that map they delineate areas that are high priority for conservation. For example, I have looked at Woodbury’s map section and about 95% of the town is shown as designated areas for conservation. According to LURB Chair Janet Hurley, the Tier 3 map “will not mirror” the Conservation Design map. A lot of attention will be paid to the creation of the Tier 3 map during this process.
If this information concerns you, I suggest you contact your legislators and participate in the hearings yet to come. Also, I fervently hope that common sense will prevail, and the statute will be amended to delete the use of Act 250 as the mechanism to achieve Act 181’s goals when all that is needed is a permit that addresses the issue in play.
Etkins lives in Woodbury and has worked for 25 years as a consultant assisting non-profit organizations and municipal development projects.
