CABOT – Act 181 and pending legislation in the House affects every facet of my work life. While not the opinion of the town as a whole, this is my experience. While understanding the need for Act 250 reform, Act 181 is not the answer. I keep hearing historic legislation: this is historic, yes, it is historic because at no other time has the state of Vermont applied a location based, not project based, system for Act 250.
What does this mean? In my town it currently means 25% of land in Cabot will be required to go through the entire Act 250 process to build anything bigger than 200 square feet, even a single-family home.
This will create an additional cost for Vermonters that live here and want to continue living here, with an already high cost of living. Any parcel that is not developed should have the ability to build a single-family home without having to go through Act 250.
Tier 3 is only supposed to encompass 6 to 7% of land in Vermont, while in Cabot it is 25%. This is disproportionate across municipalities, especially since many towns will not have the ability to opt in to Tier 1a or b. The maps being used were also never intended for regulatory purposes.
The impact on municipalities will be felt as well, municipalities that can opt in to Tier 1a or b will have many changes that need to be made to their zoning regulations, districts will need to grow and expand thoughtfully, as the exemption area in many cases does not have the infrastructure necessary once you leave Chittenden County.
Towns that don’t have the ability to opt in get nothing, except Tier 3 and the Road Rule, effectively slowing down any potential development.
Only 42 towns in Vermont can opt in to tier 1a and 1b currently, out of 252 municipalities.
Cabot is choosing to opt in, but I don’t believe it will help us at all. Existing parcels with an Act 250 permit will still have to go through Act 250 for any new development, even in an exempt area. In Cabot, once you get out of the village, there are very few parcels that are 10 acres or smaller so they will still have to go through the Act 250 process as well.
The road rule, while not a new implementation, will also do more harm than good to small municipalities. If you are looking at areas of Chittenden County and areas of Washington county that the Road Rule will encompass, then add Tier 3; small municipalities are left with next to nothing that could be built upon without triggering Act 250.
In closing Act 181 does nothing for small municipalities but gives every opportunity to large cities and towns. It feels like we are forfeiting the green space left in Chittenden County and the few larger cities, not in Chittenden, but placing extreme measures on the small municipalities when many are having a hard time growing already.
Those of us that are waiting on the new Tier 3 maps feel like we are playing a game of Russian roulette, and in this instance the ball landing on your spot is not a good thing.
Cabot resident, Town Clerk, Lister, Zoning Administrator and Planning Clerk Brittany Butler first submitted this for testimony to the House Environment Committee and the Senate Natural Resources Committee in February where it wasn’t heard. On March 25 it was sent to the Rural Caucus for an April 1 listening session where she was given two minutes to testify. That testimony and other Rural Caucus resources can be found at vtruralcaucus.com/resources
