By Anonymous Guest Writer (VLS student)
Vermont’s
distributed settlement pattern significantly impacts energy consumption and the
environment by requiring a significant amount of travel. Vermonters consume 20%
more gasoline per capita than the national average and transportation is
Vermont’s largest source of greenhouse gas emissions.[1]
[2]
In order to meet its statutory greenhouse gas reduction goals and reduce energy
use in the transportation sector, Vermont should strengthen its land use laws
and planning requirements to prevent further sprawl and channel new development
to downtown areas.[3] In
the process, Vermont can reduce the security and economic risks associated with
petroleum dependence while preserving its rural character and creating vibrant,
walkable communities.
Current
state law does little to slow single-family residential development in the
countryside. Act 250 limits individuals from dividing land into six or more
lots within five years in towns without zoning bylaws, or ten or more lots
within a five-mile radius within five years, without a permit.[4]
This, however, is weak as it neither corrects the market incentive to subdivide
nor provides a real constraint to doing so on a small-scale or long-term basis,
the cumulative impacts of which are meaningful. Additionally, no state permit
is required for residential development unless it involves ten or more units within
five years or the site is above 2500 feet in elevation.[5]
Thus, restrictions on single-family residential development largely rely on
municipal subdivision and zoning ordinances, which many towns do not have
(including Royalton).
Vermont
enacted Act 183 in 2006 which allows municipalities to designate defined areas
for development known as “growth centers.” The law streamlines Act 250
permitting within growth centers and targets state infrastructure funding and spending
within them.[6]
While this legislation is a step toward encouraging smart growth, it does
little to control the continued subdivision and homebuilding in the countryside.
Moreover, state-level planning is “essentially limited to reactive review of
local initiatives.” [7]
Vermont’s
laws should be strengthened in several ways to reduce sprawl and improve smart
growth planning. Firstly, the legislature should provide for coordinated
state-wide land use planning, which can be accomplished by creating a
state-level planning group and providing it with adequate resources. The
function of this group would be to create a state-wide land use plan that binds
the regional plans together and provides policy guidance on the best methods
for reenergizing Vermont town centers and containing growth.[8]
This group should measure and periodically report on the proportion of growth that
is occurring within growth centers and should be authorized to enact
appropriate policies that are required to meet long-term targets set by the
legislature.
Secondly,
the State of Vermont should require that all towns create growth zone
boundaries and enact a meaningful tax on land that is subdivided outside
designated growth boundaries. This would serve to counteract the financial
incentive to subdivide land with the proceeds distributed to towns and regional
planning commissions to strengthen planning and incentivize compact development.
Permitting requirements should be phased in for all new construction of
residences outside the growth zones to ensure building occurs at a scale and in
locations that preserve the ability to conduct agriculture and maintain forest
habitat. A tax on construction of new residences outside the growth zone could
be levied proportionally to the distance from the growth zone with proceeds
earmarked to support municipal infrastructure projects within the growth zone.
Thirdly,
planning inside designated growth boundaries must be smart so that available
land is not used inefficiently and depleted. Growth area development should be
safe, walkable, and an attractive place to reside with options for car-sharing
or public transportation. It is possible to build an auto-dependent, suburban layout
within growth centers (as pictured in appendix), which must be avoided. To
accomplish this, Vermont’s law should require that towns conduct smart growth planning
within their growth zones and adequate resources should be made available to
them to do so, including the guidance of the state and regional planning
commissions. Permitting requirements should be strengthened to require
permitting of new stand-alone residential structures within the growth area to
ensure they are in conformance with the town plan and principles of smart
growth.
Fourthly,
living in town should be made more affordable so that it presents a financially
attractive alternative that is accessible. This can be accomplished through
good planning that removes the need to own a vehicle and provides a diverse
housing stock. Vermont can enact laws that direct funding for its rental
assistance programs to growth areas and require that major employers establish
themselves within growth areas.
It
is important to get land use right. Once land has been subdivided, it is
difficult to piece it back together, and once land has been developed, it is difficult
to undo without significant economic costs. Current law does little to control
sprawling residential development in the countryside, the continuation of which
has the effect of imposing an energy-intensive travel requirement that works
against Vermont’s goal to reduce its greenhouse gas emissions. By strengthening
planning requirements, imposing taxes and offering incentives that
strategically induce market behavior to align more closely with societal
objectives as enumerated in town, regional, and state plans, and strengthening
the requirements of Act 250, Vermont can channel future growth strategically to
create vibrant downtowns that reduce energy requirements and environmental
impact.
[1]
Energy Consumption by Transportation Fuel in Vermont, U.S. Department of Energy
EERE. Available at: http://apps1.eere.energy.gov/states/transportation.cfm/state=VT
[2]
Vermont Greenhouse Gas Emissions
Inventory Update 1990 – 2009. April, 2013. Vermont Agency of Natural Resources
Department of Environmental Conservation Air Pollution Control Division
[3]
Vermont’s GHG Reduction Goals are enumerated in 10 VSA § 578
[4]
10 VSA § 6001-19
[5]
10 VSA § 6001-3A
[6]
24 V.S.A. § 2793c
[7]
Jack Kraichnan, Vermont’s Act 183: Smart
Growth Takes Root in the Green Mountain State. P. 605. Vermont Law Review. Available at http://lawreview.vermontlaw.edu/files/2012/02/kraichnan.pdf.
[8]
Ibid.
