 Welcome, everyone. Call our meeting to order here in House National Resources Fish and Wildlife for the first walkthrough of the Type 250 Commission Bill. So we have about two hours with Alan. Welcome, Alan. And it's 81 pages. My request is that we keep questions kind of high level. I'm wondering what something's trying to accomplish or how it does that. That's great, but otherwise let's try to get through it in this first review of the bill. Is somebody online? Or on the phone? Just lit up. I don't know if that's... Let's try shutting the door. Thank you. Thank you. Alan Tchaikovsky, Office of National Land Council. We are looking at what is now draft 5.2. It's dated 12319. There may be drafts in the future, so just this is where we're starting. The bill proposes to make the following changes to Act 250. Proposing revisions to Act 250's capability and development plan to address climate change and ecosystem protection. Amending Act 250 to include a purpose section that refers to the plan and the specific statutory goals for municipal and regional planning. Amending the criteria to address climate change, including requiring projects to avoid, minimize, or mitigate greenhouse gas emissions and to be designed to withstand and adapt to climate change. Amending the criteria to address ecosystem protection through protecting forest blocks and connecting habitat. The bill would also increase the program's ability to protect ecosystems on ridge lines by reducing the elevation threshold from 2,500 to 2,000 feet. Requiring that to be used in Act 250, local and regional plans must be approved as consistent with the statutory planning goals and clarifying that local and regional plan provisions will do a project if they meet the same standard of specificity applicable to statutes. As part of the balancing of interests to support economic development in compact centers while promoting a rural countryside and protecting important natural resources, amending Act 250 jurisdiction to allow municipalities to ensure compliance with the Act 250 criteria in centers receiving an enhanced designation under 24VSA Chapter 76A and increasing Act 250 jurisdiction in critical resource areas and at interstate interchanges. Because the designation under 24VSA Chapter 76A would affect jurisdiction, the bill provides for a keel of designation decisions. Clarifying the definition of commercial purpose so that it is not necessary to determine whether money is received or essential to sustain a project. Requiring the development cabinet to meet regularly. Increasing the per diem rate for district commissioners and the board to $100. Repealing the exemption for farming, logging and forestry when those activities take place in critical resource areas. Replacing the natural resources board with a Vermont Environmental Review Board which would hear appeals from the district commissions and the agency of natural resources in addition to the NRV's current duties. The environmental division of the Superior Court would continue to hear enforcement and local zoning appeals. H3. Reaffirming the supervisory authority of environmental matters of the board and district commissions with the original intent of Act 250 and determined by the Vermont Supreme Court. Revising and clarifying the statutory authority on the use of other permits to demonstrate compliance with the criteria including ensuring the reliability of those permits. Section 1 starts on line 10 and it's revisions to capability and development plan. In the 1973 Act and Resolve, number 85, subsection 20 is added to read greenhouse gas emissions and climate change. Climate change poses serious risks to human health functioning ecosystems that support the diversity of species and economic growth and Vermont's tourist forestry and agricultural industries. The primary driver of climate change in Vermont and elsewhere is the increase in atmospheric carbon dioxide from the burning of fossil fuels which has a warming effect that is amplified because atmospheric water vapor and other greenhouse gas increases as temperature rises. Vermont should minimize its emission of greenhouse gases and because the climate is changing ensure that the design and materials used in development enable projects to withstand and increase an extreme weather events and adapt to other changes in the weather and environment. Section 2, 1973 acts and resolves number 85. Section 7A2 is amended to read ecosystem protection and utilization of natural resources. Healthy ecosystems, clean water, purify air, maintain soil, regulate the climate, recycle nutrients, and provide food. They provide raw materials and resources for medicines and other purposes. They are the foundation of civilization and sustain the economy. These ecosystem services are the state's natural capital. Biodiversity is the key indicator of an ecosystem's health. A wide variety of species cope better with threats than a limited number of species in large populations. So we've broken out into A, B, and C there and the existing language includes products of the land and the stone and materials under the land as well as the beauty of our landscape, our principal natural resources of the state. Protection of healthy resources in Vermont, preservation of the agricultural and forest, productivity of the land, and the economic viability of agricultural units, conservation of the recreational opportunity afforded by the state's hills, forest, streets, and lakes, wise use of the state's non-revival energy and mineral resources, and protection of the beauty of the landscape are matters of public good. Uses which threaten, significantly inhibit these healthy ecosystems and the state's natural and scenic resources should be permitted only when the public interest is clearly benefit thereby. Section three. So now we're into changes to the Act 250 statute. We're adding section 6000. It's purpose and construction. The purposes of this chapter are to protect and conserve the environment of the state and to support the achievement of the goals of the capability and development plan and of 24 VSA section 4302C. The chapter shall be construed broadly to affect these purposes. Section 6001 definitions. The board means the Vermont Environmental Review Board. Capability and development plan means the plan prepared pursuant to section 6000, boarding two of this title, and adopted pursuant to 1973 acts and results number 85, sections 6 and 7, as amended by this Act. Development means each of the following. Page 6. Do you want me to read through all of them or do you want me to just skip to the next part of it? You should read through. Sure. Development means each of the following. The construction of improvements on a tract of land owned or controlled by a person involving more than 10 acres of land within a radius of five miles of any point on any involved land for commercial or industrial purposes. The construction of improvement for commercial or industrial purposes on more than one acre of land within a municipality that has not adopted permanent zoning and subdivision bylaws or has adopted permanent zoning and subdivision bylaws if the municipality in which the proposed project is located has elected by ordinance adopted under 24 BSA chapter 59 to have this jurisdiction apply. So this new language starting on line 7 already exists, but it's been moved for clarity to the other, to be linked to that other section right there. So it's actually immediately below starting on line 12. I'm starting on line 10. The construction of improvements for commercial or industrial purposes on a tract or tracts of land owned or controlled by a person involving more than one acre of land within a rural and working land area. The construction of improvements for commercial, industrial, or residential use at or above the elevation of 2,000 feet or in a critical resource area below that elevation. Page 7, the construction of improvements for commercial or industrial purposes at an interchange area unless it is within an existing settlement. The word development does not include the construction of improvements for farming, logging, or forestry purposes below the elevation of 2,000 feet except when located in a critical resource area. The construction of improvements for commercial or industrial purposes within an area that has obtained an enhanced designation pursuant to 24 BSA chapter 76A. The construction of improvements below the elevation of 2,000 feet for the onsite storage preparation and sale of compost provided that one of the following applied. So starting on line 18 we've struck the existing definition of floodway and replaced it at the top of page 8 with flood hazard area which has the same meaning as under section 752 of this title which matches the federal definition of flood hazard area. The definition of floodway fringe has been struck and has been replaced by river corridor which has the same meaning as under section 752 of this title again matching the federal definition which is in order to bring these definitions more up to date. Necessary wildlife habitat means concentrated habitat that is identified and is demonstrated as being decisive to the survival of a species of wildlife at any period of its life including breeding and migratory periods. 19 subdivision means each of the following a tract or tracts of land owned or controlled by a person located outside of an area that has received an enhanced designation under 24 BSA chapter 76A that the person has partitioned or divided for the purpose of resale into 10 or more lots within a radius of 5 miles of any point on any lot or within the jurisdictional area of the same district commission within any continuous period of 5 years. Question, Madam Chair? Yes. And I don't like I should ask it earlier but this works could you quickly tell us 24 BSA chapter 76A? Sure, it's the state designation program so it encompasses the downtown districts as well as the village centers the designated village centers it's got all five of them in there. 19 in determining the number of lots a lot shall be counted if any portion outside such an area and within 5 miles or within the jurisdictional area of the same district commission. Page 9 a tract or tracts of land owned or controlled by a person that the person has partitioned or divided for the purpose of resale into 6 or more lots within a continuous period of 5 years in a municipality that does not have newly adopted permanent zoning and subdivision bylaws. A tract or tracts of land owned or controlled by a person that the person has partitioned or divided for the purpose of resale into a number of lots within a continuous period of 5 years in a rural and working lands area this is the first fill in the blank number we will need there are a couple more but just something to start thinking about a tract or tracts of land owned or controlled by a person that had been partitioned or divided for the purpose of resale into 5 or more separate parcels of any size within a radius of 5 miles of any point on any such parcel and within any period of 10 years by public auction. In this subdivision public auction means any auction advertised or publicized in any manner or to which there is more than 10 persons have been invited. If sales under this subdivision are of interest that went sold by means other than public auction are exempt from the provisions of this chapter under the provisions of subsection 6081B of this title the fact that these interests are sold by means of a public auction shall not in itself create a requirement for a permit under this chapter. Page 10 A tract or tracts of land owned or controlled by a person located in a critical resource area that has been partitioned or divided for the purpose of resale. The word subdivision shall not include each of the following a lot or lots created for the purpose of conveyance to the state or to a qualified organization as defined under 6301A of this title if the land be transferred includes and will preserve the segment of the long trail a lot or lots created for the purpose of conveyance to the state to a qualified holder of conservation rights and interests as defined in 821B of this title connecting habitat refers to land or water or both that links patches of habitat with and the landscape allowing the movement, migration and dispersal of animals and plants to a functioning of ecological processes. The connecting habitat may include recreational trails and improvements constructed for farming, logging or forestry purposes. Forest block means a contiguous area of forest in any stage of succession and not currently developed for non-forrest use. A forest block may include recreational trails, wetlands or other natural features that do not themselves possess tree cover and improvements constructed for farming logging or forestry purposes. Page 11 Fragmentation means the division or conversion of a forest block or connecting habitat by the separation of a parcel into two or more parcels. The construction, conversion relocation or enlargement of any building or other structure or of any mining excavation or landfill and any change in use of any building or other structure or land or extension of use of land however fragmentation does not include the division or conversion of a forest block or connecting habitat by a recreational trail or by improvements constructed for farming, logging or forestry purposes below the elevation of 2000 feet. Habitat means the physical and biological environment in which a particular species of plant or animal lives as used in subdivisions 38, 39 and 41 of this section, recreational trail means a corridor that is not paved and that is used for recreational purposes including hiking walking, bicycling cross-country skiing, snowmobiling altering vehicle riding and horseback riding. Air contaminant has the same meaning as under section 552 of this title commercial purpose means the provision of facilities, goods or services by a person other than for a municipal or state purpose to others in exchange for payment of a purchase price fee, contribution donation or other object or service having value regardless of whether the payment is essential to sustain the provisions of the facilities, goods or services. 45 critical resource area means a river corridor a significant wetland as defined under section 902 of this title land at or above 2000 feet land characterized by slopes greater than 15% and shallow depth to bedrock greenhouse gas means carbon dioxide methane, nitrous oxide hydrofluorocarbons perfluorocarbons sulfur hexafluoride and any other chemical or physical substance that is emitted into the air and that the secretary of natural resources or district commission regularly anticipates to cause or contribute to climate change. Interchanged area means the land within a 3000 foot radius of an interstate interchange except for land within an existing settlement. The radius shall be measured from the midpoint of the interconnecting roadways within the interchange. Rural and working lands area means an area that is not an existing settlement or a critical resource area. Technical determination means a decision that results from the application of science, engineering, or other similar expertise to the facts to determine whether activity for which a permit is requested meets the standards for issuing the permit under statute and rule. The term does not include an interpretation of a statute or rule. Page 13, line 3 section 6001 e, commercial composting facility, circumvention notwithstanding subdivisions 6003 d 7 1 to 4 of this title, a permit under this chapter may be required for the construction of improvements below the elevation of 2000 feet for the on-site storage preparation and sale of compost if the chair of the district commission based on the information available to the chair determines that the action has been taken to circumvent the requirements of this chapter. Helen? Yes. Can you remind the committee what notwithstanding means? Although in spite of So does this supersede those or do they take precedent over them? So this is an odd section in that it's one of this section is was added to avoid to there was concern that people were circumventing Act 250 on purpose under the by installing compost so this is just trying to say that if there is suspicion that there was action taken to circumvent Act 250 construction of improvements that would normally be exempt under Act 250. They're still exempt. If they think you're circumventing Act 250 on purpose they are not exempt but it's a very specific provision related to compost. May I ask a question also? Sure. What is the significance of 2500 versus 2000 feet all I did many times and I don't understand that word. So we we were just trying to let Ellen get through and not experience the whole bill at once and then get into that but I can say that in our commission conversations there was a lot of discussion about bridge lines and how to protect them and that is one of the things that our commitment talked about that is the proposed change in elevation. Did I answer your question? No not really. I wasn't worried about what the section was trying to do. I wanted people in the room to understand what notwithstanding means when it comes up in the bill because it doesn't make any sense to me and so I figure there may be other people that need to be reminded. So 6001-3D lists the things that are not considered development and under that composting is generally not considered development. So in spite of that provision if you're found to be circumventing Act 250 it is considered development and you can't escape. So in spite of. It's not a great word and we do try to avoid it. Yeah. You love it? Thank you. Sub Chapter 2 Section 6021 Board Vacancy Removal Establishment For my environmental review board is created. The board shall consist of a chair and others to be determined. The chair, members and alternate members shall be appointed by the governor with the advice and consent of the senate. I know there's a thumb missing in that sentence. I will fix that. In making these appointments the candidates shall be sought who have experience expertise or skills relating to the environment or land use. Down on line 15 initial appointments to the board shall be made so that the terms of the chair and the members expire in a staggered manner and the length of these initial terms shall be determined. The term's vacancy succession. The terms of each appointment subsequent to the initial appointments described in subdivision A2 of this section shall be determined a number of years. Any appointment to fill a vacancy shall be for the unexpired portion of the term vacated. A member wishing to succeed himself or his office may seek reappointment under the terms of this section. Removal Notwithstanding the provisions of three of ESA 2004 members shall be removed for cause only except the chair who shall serve at the pleasure of the governor. Down on line 12 use of alternates when a member of the board is unavailable to hear a case the chair may appoint an alternate member of the case. Retirement from office When a board member or alternate who hears all or a substantial part of a case retires from office before the case is completed he or she shall remain a member of the board for the purpose of concluding and deciding that case and signing the findings and judgments involved. A retiring chair shall also remain a member of the board for the purpose of certifying questions of law if a party appeals to the Supreme Court. Completion of a case a case shall be deemed completed when the board enters a final decision even though that decision is appealed to the Supreme Court and remanded by that court. Court of record jurisdiction the board shall have the powers of a court of record in the determination and adjudication of all matters of jurisdiction. It may initiate proceedings on any matter within its jurisdiction it may render judgments and enforce the same by any suitable process issuable by courts in this state. An order issued by the board on any matter within its jurisdiction shall have the effect of a judicial order. The board's jurisdiction shall include the issuance of declaratory rulings on the applicability chapter and rules or orders issued under this chapter pursuant to 3VSA 808 and the issuance of decisions on appeals pursuant to section 6089 and chapter 219 of this title. Hearing officers one board member or any officer or employee of the board duly appointed by the chair of the board may inquire into and examine any matter within the jurisdiction of the board. A hearing officer may hold any hearing on any matter within the jurisdiction of the board. Hearings conducted by a hearing officer shall be in accordance with 3VSA sections 809 to 814 a hearing officer may administer oaths and exercise the powers of the board necessary to hear and determine a matter for which the officer was appointed. A hearing officer shall report his or her findings of fact in writing to the board in the form of a proposal for a decision. A copy shall be served upon the parties pursuant to 3VSA section 811. However judgment on those findings shall be rendered only by a majority of the board. Personnel Regular Personnel The board may appoint legal counsel, scientists, engineers experts, investigators temporary employees and administrative personnel as it finds necessary in carrying out its duties in providing personnel to assist the district commissions and in investigating matters within its jurisdiction including oversight and monitoring of permit compliance. Personnel for particular proceedings Retention The board may authorize or retain legal counsel, official stenographers expert witnesses, advisors temporary employees and other research services to assist the board in any proceeding before it under this chapter or chapter 219 of this title and to monitor compliance with any formal opinion of the board or district commission. Personnel authorized by this section shall be in addition to the regular personnel of the board. The board shall fix the amount of compensation and expenses to be paid to such additional personnel. Assessment of costs The board may allocate to an applicant the portion of its expenses incurred by retaining additional personnel for proceeding. On petition of an applicant to which costs are proposed to be allocated the board shall review and determine after opportunity for hearing the necessity and reasonable illness of those costs having due regard for the size and complexity of the project and may amend or revise an allocation. Prior to allocating costs the board shall make a determination of the purpose and use of the funds to be raised under this section. Identify the recipient of the funds provide for allocation of costs for applicants to be assessed indicate an estimated duration of the proceedings and estimate the total cost to be imposed. With the approval of the board estimates may be revised as necessary. From time to time during the progress of the work the board shall render the applicant detailed statements showing the amount of money expended or contracted for in the work of additional personnel which statements shall be paid into the state treasury at the time and the manner as the board may reasonably direct. All payments for costs allocated pursuant to this section shall be deposited into the fund created under section 6029 of this title. Rules The board may adopt rules of procedure for itself and the district commissions. The board shall adopt rules of procedure that govern appeals of other contested cases before and are consistent with this chapter and chapter 219 of this title. The board may adopt substantive rules and accordance with the provisions of 3VSA Chapter 25 which is the Administrative Procedures Act. So I have a question on this whole section is about is it language that existed before the board restructured in 2004? I don't know that. I don't know whether or not these rules shall include provisions that establish criteria under which applications or permits under this chapter may be classified in terms of complexity and significance of impact under the standards of subsection 6086A of this chapter in accordance with that classification the rules may provide for simplified or less stringent procedures than are otherwise required 6083, 6084 and 6085 of this chapter provide for the filing of notices instead of applications for the permits that would otherwise be required under section 6081 of this chapter and provide a procedure by which a district commission may authorize a district coordinator to issue a permit that the district commission has determined under board rules as a minor application with no undue adverse impact district commissioners for the purposes of the administration of this chapter the state is divided into nine districts the district environmental commission is created for each district each district commission shall consist of three members from that district appointed in the month of February by the governor so that two appointments expire in each odd number here two of the members shall be appointed a term of four years and the chair, third member of each district shall be appointed for a two year term in any district the governor may appoint not more than four alternate members from the district whose terms shall not exceed two years who may hear any case when a regular member is disqualified or otherwise unable to serve members shall be removable for cause only except the chair shall serve at the pleasure of the governor any vacancy shall be filled by the governor for the unexpired period of the term the chair of the board upon request of the chair of a district commission may appoint and assign former commission members to sit on specific commission cases when some or all of the regular members and alternate members of the district commission are disqualified or otherwise unable to serve dislanguage also already exists elsewhere it has been moved for clarity per refugee yes section 6027 powers the board and district commissions shall have supervisory authority and environmental matters respecting projects within their jurisdiction and shall apply their independent judgment in determining facts and interpreting law they each shall have the power with respect to any matter in its jurisdiction to administer votes take depositions subpoena and compel the attendance of witnesses and require the production of evidence allow parties to enter upon lands of other parties for the purposes of inspecting and investigating conditions related to the matter before the board or commission enter upon lands for the purpose of inspecting inspections, investigations, examinations, tests and site evaluations as it deems necessary to verify information presented in any matter within its jurisdiction and apply for and receive grants from the federal government and from other sources the powers granted under this chapter are additional to any other powers that may be granted by other legislation the board may designate or establish such regional offices as it deems necessary to implement the provisions of this chapter and rules adopted here under the board may designate or require a regional planning commission to receive applications provide administrative assistance perform investigations and make recommendations at the request of a district commission if the board chair determines that the workload of a requesting district is likely to result in unreasonable delays or that the requesting district commission is disqualified to hear a case the chair may authorize the district commission of another district to sit in the requesting district to consider water more applications the board may rule may by rule allow joint hearings to be conducted with specified state agencies or specified municipalities the board may publish or contract or publish annotations and indices of its decisions and the decisions of the environmental division and the text of those decisions the published product shall be available at a reasonable rate to the general public and at a reduced rate to libraries and governmental bodies within the state the board shall manage the process by which land use permits are issued under section 6086 of this title may initiate enforcement unrelated matters under the provisions of chapters 201 and 211 of this title and may petition the environmental division for revocation of land use permits under this chapter grounds for revocation are non-compliance with this chapter rules adopted under this chapter or an order that is issued that relates to this chapter non-compliance with any permit or permit condition failure to disclose all relevant and material facts in the application during the permitting process misinterpretation of any relevant or material fact at any time misrepresentation line 10 failure to pay a penalty or other sums owed pursuant to or other failure to comply with court order stipulation agreement schedule of compliance issued under Vermont statutes and related to permit or failure to provide certification of construction costs as required under subsection 6083 AA of this title or failure to pay supplemental fees as required under that section the board may hear appeals of fee refund requests under section 6083 AA of this title the chair direct to the direction of the board shall have general charge of the offices and employees of the board and the offices and employees of the district commissions the board may participate as a party in all matters before the environmental division that relate to land use permits issued under this chapter so I was hoping to better understand why we've changed the NRV I'm not seeing the overriding when you say changed we changed except that we've changed it from we'll go back to the very beginning where we have natural resources for the Vermont environmental review board which is so what's the 10,000 foot implication of that one of the proposals from the commission is to change the board to a quasi judicial board that will hear appeals which are currently being heard by the environmental division of the Superior Court so the change is intertwined throughout this bill but there is sections later in the bill where we talk about the makeup of the board and its ability to hear permanent appeals I know it's difficult because we're making changes throughout that will lead to one idea thank you very much and the name is changed for really just kind of indicating that yes for sure so you're doing away with the environmental board currently there's the natural resources board and the environmental division of the Superior Court we're taking away the permanent appeals from the environmental division of the court they will retain some of their jurisdiction over other matters but we're taking that appeals and bringing it to what is currently the natural resources board and giving them some extra power building a bigger bureaucracy just more jobs building more jobs for state government or what are we doing it's the way that the appeal structure was done before 2004 going back to that based on the feedback we got from section 6028 compensation members of the board and district commissions shall receive her DMK of $100 and all necessary and actual expenses section 6030 capability and development maps updates on or before January 1, 2021 the board and the secretaries of commerce and community development of digital services of agriculture food and markets and of natural resources shall complete and update to the capability and development maps created under this chapter in 1971 for reference in applying this chapter maps updated pursuant to this section shall be consistent with the capability and development plan and shall include and identify environmental constraints existing settlements rural and working lands areas critical resource areas facilities and infrastructure and areas targeted for conservation public investment and development the board and these secretaries shall complete further updates to these maps no less frequently than every eight years the board shall lead and coordinate the completion of updates pursuant to this section process when updating maps pursuant to this section the board and secretaries shall prior to completing the update consult with the regional planning commissions and issue a draft update provide public notice of the draft update and offer an opportunity for great public comment and conduct one or more public meetings to receive oral comment on the draft update availability the updated maps shall be maintained as a layer in the agency of natural resources natural resources atlas and shall be available to the public ethical standards the chair and the regular and alternate members of the board and the chair and the regular and alternate members of each district commission shall comply with the following ethical standards the provisions of 12 BSA section 61 disqualification for interest the chair and each member shall conduct the affairs of his or her office in such a manner as to instill public trust and competence and shall take all reasonable steps to avoid any action or circumstance that might result in any one of the following undermining his or her independence or functionality of action taking official action on the basis of unfair considerations giving preferential treatment to any private interest on the basis of unfair considerations giving preferential treatment to any family member or member of his or her household using his or her office for the advancement of personal interest or secure or to secure special privileges or exemptions or adversely affecting the confidence of the public in the integrity of the board or district commission in the case of the board no person who receives or has received during the previous two years a significant portion of his or her income directly or indirectly from permit holders or applicants for a permit under chapter 47 of this title may hear appeals from acts or decisions of the secretary of the permit issued under chapter 47 which is the water pollution control chapter of title 10 section 6081 permits required exemptions subsection A of this section shall not apply to a subdivision exempt under the regulations of the department of health in effect on January 21 1970 or any subdivision which has a permit issued prior to June 1 1970 under the board of health regulations or has a pending or has pending a bona fide application for permit under the regulations of the board of health on June 1 1970 with respect to class on file as of June 1 1970 provided such permit is granted prior to August 1 19 subsection A of this section shall not apply to development which is not also a subdivision which has been commenced prior to June 1 1970 if the construction will be completed by March 1 1971 subsection A of this section shall not apply to a state highway on which a hearing pursuant to 19 BSA 222 has been held prior to June 1 1970 subsection A of this section shall not apply to any telecommunications facility in existence prior to July 1 1997 unless that facility is in development as defined in subdivision 6013 of this title subsection A of this section shall not apply to any substantial change in such accepted subdivision or development on or before July 1 2020 owners of pre-existing pits and quarries shall submit instruction data to the board in order to establish a baseline against which substantial changes may be determined do you have a title that you caught on? going back to line 14 subsection A of this section the way you read it shall not apply but is it supposed to be shall apply or shall not apply 915 of this section shall the way you read it oh, I'm sorry should it be apply or not apply? apply we're not changing that sentence sorry subsection J is being repealed on to page 28 in fact to the commercial extraction from a slate quarry activities activities that are not ancillary to slate mining operations may constitute substantial changes and may be subject to permitting requirements under this chapter ancillary activities include the following activities that pertain to slate and that take place within a registered parcel that contain a slate quarry drilling, crushing, rinding sizing, washing, drying sawing and cutting stone blasting, trimming, punching splitting and gouging gauging and use of buildings and use of construction of equipment exclusively to carry out such activities buildings that existed on April 1, 1995 or any replacement to those buildings shall be considered ancillary activities that are ancillary activities that involve crushing may constitute substantial changes if they may result in significant impact with respect to any of the criteria specified in subdivisions 6,086 a 1-10 unjust title by no later than January 1, 1997 any owner of land or mineral rights or any owner of slate quarry leasehold rights on a parcel of land on which a slate quarry was located as of June 1, 1970 may register the existence of the slate quarry with the district commission and with the clerk of the municipality in which the slate quarry is located while also providing each with a map which indicates the boundaries of the parcel which contains the slate quarry which contains slate quarry registration shall state the name and address of the owner of the land mineral rights and leasehold rights whether that person holds mineral rights or leasehold rights or is the owner in peace symbol the physical location of the same the physical location and size of ancillary buildings and the book and page of the recorded deed or other instrument by which the owner holds title to the land or rights slate quarry registration documents shall be submitted to the district commission together with a request under the provisions of subsection 6,007C of this title for a final determination regarding the outlook ability of this chapter the final determination regarding the slate quarry registration under subsection 6,007C of this title shall be recorded in the municipal land records at the expense of the registrant along with an accurate site plan of the parcel depicting the specific the site specific information contained in the registration document the registrant must provide notice of the slate quarries registration to the adjacent landowners with respect to a slate quarry located on a particular registered parcel of land ancillary activities on the parcel related to the extraction and processing of slate into products that are primarily other than crushed stone products shall not be deemed to be substantial changes as long as the activities do not involve the creation of one or more new slate quarry holes that are not related to an existing slate quarry hole registered slate quarries shall be added to the agency of natural resources natural resource atlas section 6,083a acts 250 fees a written request for an application fee refund shall be submitted to the district commission to which the fee was paid within 90 days of the withdrawal of the application district commission decision to regarding the application fee refunds may be appealed to the board in accordance with board rules a commission or the board may require any permitting to file a certification of actual construction costs and may direct the payment of a supplemental fee in the event that an application understated the project's construction costs failure to file a certification or to pay a supplemental fee shall be grounds for permit revocation section 6,085 hearings party status the board and any district commission acting through one or more newly authorized representatives at any pre-hearing conference or at any other times deemed appropriate by the board or by the district commission shall promote expeditious and informal non-adversarial resolution of issues require the timely exchange of information concerning the application and encourage participants to settle differences no district commissioner who is participating as a decision maker in a particular case may act as a duly authorized representative for the purposes of this subsection these efforts at dispute resolution shall not affect the burden of proof on issues before a commission or the board nor shall they affect the requirement that a permit may be issued only after the issuance of affirmative findings under the criteria established in section 6,086 of this title yes I'm wondering if it would be good to give you a break oh how about we shake five to seven minute break there we go can we voice the rest right someone can close the door thank you Laura would appreciate that okay morning page 32 section 6,086 issuance of permits, conditions and criteria criteria before granting a permit the district commission shall find that the subdivision or development air pollution will not result in undue air pollution in making this determination the district commission shall at least consider the air contaminants and noise to be emitted by the development or subdivision if any the proximity of the emission source to residences, population centers and other sensitive receptors and emission dispersion characteristics at or near the source air contaminants a permit will be granted whenever it is demonstrated by the applicant that in addition to all other applicable criteria the emission if any of air contaminants by the development or subdivision will meet any applicable requirements under the clean air act 42 USC chapter 85 and the pollution control regulations of the department of environmental conservation greenhouse gas emissions climate change a permit will be granted whenever it is demonstrated by the applicant that in addition to all other applicable criteria the construction, use, operation and maintenance of the development or subdivision will avoid the emission of greenhouse gases including greenhouse gases from the vehicular traffic to be generated by the development or subdivision if it is not feasible to avoid such emissions will minimize them or if it is not feasible to avoid or minimize such emissions will mitigate them in accordance with rules adopted by the board any offsets used shall be third party verified and enforceable by the applicant and its successors and assigns and by the state of Vermont the rule shall be adopted in consultation with the secretary of natural resources and shall comply with the greenhouse gas reduction goals of section 578 of this title the development or subdivision will employ design and materials that are sufficient to enable the improvements to be constructed including buildings roads and other infrastructure to withstand and adapt to the effects of climate change including extreme temperature events reasonably projected at the time of application to water pollution will not result in undue water pollution in making this determination the district commission shall at least consider the elevation of land above sea level and in relation to the flood plains the nature of soils subsoils and their abilities and their ability to adequately support waste disposal the slope of the land and its effect on effluence the availability of streams for disposal of effluence and the applicable health and environmental conservation department regulations headwaters, a permit will be granted whenever it is demonstrated by the applicant that in addition to all other applicable criteria the development or subdivision will meet any applicable health and environmental conservation department regulations regarding reduction of the quality of the ground or surface waters flowing through or upon lands that are not devoted to intensive development in which lands are headwaters of watersheds characterized by steep slopes and shallow soils or drainage areas of 20 square miles or less or above 1500 feet elevation or watersheds of public water supplies designated by the agency natural resources or areas supplying significant amounts of recharge waters to aquifers waste disposal a permit will be granted whenever it is demonstrated by the applicant that in addition to all other applicable criteria the development or subdivision will meet any applicable health and environmental conservation department regulations regarding the disposal of wastes and will not involve the injection of waste materials or any harmful or toxic substances into groundwater or wells water conservation a permit will be granted whenever it is demonstrated by the applicant that in addition to all other applicable criteria the design has considered water conservation incorporates multiple use or recycling where technically and economically practical practical utilizes the best available technology for such applications and provides for continued efficient operation of these systems flood hazard areas, river corridors a permit will be granted whenever it is demonstrated by the applicant that in addition to all other applicable criteria the development the development or subdivision of lands in the flood hazard area or river corridor will not restrict or divert the flow of floodwaters cause or contribute to fluvial erosion and endanger the health safety and welfare of the public or of riparian owners during flooding streams a permit will be granted whenever it is demonstrated by the applicant that in addition to all other applicable criteria the development or subdivision of lands on or adjacent banks of a stream will whenever feasible maintain the natural condition of the stream and will not endanger the health safety or welfare of the public or of adjoining landowners shorelines a permit will be granted whenever it is demonstrated by the applicant that in addition to all other in addition to all other criteria the development for subdivision of shorelines must of necessity be located on a shoreline in order to fulfill the purpose of the development or subdivision and the development or subdivision will in so far as possible and reasonable in light of its purpose retain the shoreline and the waters in their natural condition allow continued access to the waters and the recreational opportunities provided by the waters retain or provide vegetation that screen the development or subdivision from the waters and stabilize the bank from erosion as necessary with vegetation cover wetlands a permit will be granted whenever it is demonstrated by the applicant in addition to all in addition to other criteria that the development or subdivision will not violate the rules of the secretary of natural resources as adopted under chapter 37 of this title relating to significant wetlands three, water supply does have sufficient water available for the reasonably foreseeable needs of the subdivision or development will not cause an unreasonable burden on an existing water supply if one is to be utilized transportation will not cause unreasonable congestion or unsafe conditions with respect to the use of highways, waterways, railways airports and airways bicycle, pedestrian and other transit infrastructure and other means of transportation existing or proposed will incorporate transportation demand management strategies and provide safe access and connections to adjacent lands and facilities and to existing and planned pedestrian, bicycle and transit networks and services however the district commission may decline to require such a strategy access or connection if it finds that a reasonable reasonable person would not undertake the measure given the type, scale and transportation impacts of the proposed development or subdivision eight ecosystem protection scenic beauty historic sites will not have an undue adverse effect on the scenic or natural beauty of the area aesthetics historic sites or rare and irreplaceable natural areas necessary wildlife habitat and endangered species a permit will not be granted unless it is demonstrated by the applicant that a development or subdivision will not destroy or significantly imperil necessary wildlife habitat or any endangered species or if such destruction or impairment will occur the economic, social cultural, recreational or other benefit to the public from the development or subdivision will outweigh the economic environmental or recreational loss to the public from the destruction or impairment of the habitat or species all feasible and reasonable means of preventing or lessening the destruction diminution or impairment of the habitat or species have been or will not continue to be applied or a reasonably acceptable alternative site is not owned or controlled by the applicant that would allow the development or subdivision to fulfill its intended purpose forest blocks a permit will not be granted for development or subdivision within or partially within a forest block unless the applicant demonstrates that the development or subdivision will avoid fragmentation of the forest block through the design of the project or the location of project improvements or both if it is not feasible to avoid fragmentation of the forest block and the design of the development or subdivision minimizes fragmentation of the forest of the forest block or it is not feasible to avoid or minimize fragmentation of the forest block and the applicant will mitigate the fragmentation in accordance with section 6094 of this title methods for avoiding or minimizing the fragmentation of a forest block may include locating buildings and other improvements including the project in a manner that avoids or minimizes incursion into and disturbance of the forest block including clustering of buildings and associated improvements designing roads, driveways and utilities that serve the development or subdivision to avoid or minimize fragmentation of the forest block such design may be accomplished by following or sharing existing features such as land such as roads tree lines, stone walls and fence lines connecting habitat a permit will not be granted for a development or subdivision unless the applicant demonstrates that the development or subdivision will avoid fragmentation of a connecting habitat through the design of the project or the location of project improvements or both if it is not feasible fragmentation of the connecting habitat and the design of the development or subdivision minimizes fragmentation of the connector or it is not feasible to avoid or minimize fragmentation of the connecting habitat and the applicant will mitigate the fragmentation in accordance with section 6094 of this title methods for avoiding or minimizing the fragmentation of a connecting habitat may include locating buildings and other improvements at the farthest feasible location from the center of the connector designing the location of buildings and other improvements to leave the greatest contiguous portion of the area undisturbed in order to facilitate wildlife travel through the connector or when there is no feasible site for construction of buildings and other improvements outside the connector designing buildings designing the buildings and improvements to facilitate the continued viability of the connector for use by the wildlife 9 capability and development plan in accordance with the duly adopted capability and development plan and land use plan when is in accordance with a duly adopted capability and development plan and land use plan when adopted representative don't want to have a question just a quick question the definition of connector does that go back to connecting habitat or do we have a separate definition of connector yes but yes I believe it is to refer to connecting habitat but I highlighted that maybe we should use a different word for continuity but especially a confusing point 9f energy conservation and efficiency a permit will be granted when it has been demonstrated by the applicant that in addition to all other applicable criteria the planning and design of the subdivision or development reflect the principles of energy conservation and energy efficiency including reduction of greenhouse gas emissions from the use of energy and incorporate the best available technology for efficient use or recovery of energy an applicant seeking an affirmative finding under this criterion shall provide evidence that the subdivision or development complies with the applicable building energy standards and stretch codes under 30 BSA section 51 or 53 9i interchange areas a permit will be granted for a development or subdivision within an interchange area when it is demonstrated that in addition to all other applicable criteria the development or subdivision complies with the Vermont interstate interchange planning and design guidelines applicable to the category of land use as identified for that area in the regional plan as used in this subdivision I Vermont interstate interchange planning and design guidelines refers to the guidelines by that name published by the agency of commerce and community development in 2004 or such update to those guidelines as the commissioner of housing and community development they subsequently publish provided that the update is at least as protective of existing settlements scenic beauty and aesthetics farmland and natural resources as the 2004 guidelines 9k development affecting public investments a permit will be granted for the development or subdivision of lands adjacent to governmental governmental and public utility facilities services and lands including highways airports waste disposal facilities office and maintenance buildings fire and police stations facilities, schools, hospitals prisons, jails electric generating and transmission facilities oil and gas pipelines parks, hiking trails forests and game lands lands conserved under chapter 155 of this title and facilities or lands receiving benefits through the Vermont housing and conservation board under chapter 15 of this title the state designation program under 24 VSA chapter 76A or the Vermont downtown and village center tax credit program under 32 VSA chapter 151 sub chapter 11J when it is demonstrated that in addition to all other applicable criteria the development or subdivision will not unnecessarily or reasonably endanger the public or quasi public investment in the facility service or lands or materially jeopardize or interfere with the function efficiency or safety of or the public's use or enjoyment of or access to the facility service or lands local and regional plans is in conformance with any duly adopted local plan that has been approved under 24 section 4350 regional plan that has been approved by the board under 24 VSA 4348 or capital program under 24 VSA section 4430 in making this finding a district commission shall require conformance with the future land use maps contained in the local and regional plans and with the written provisions of those plans a district commission shall decline to apply a provision of a local or regional plan only if the commission is persuaded that the provision does not afford a person of ordinary intelligence with a reasonable opportunity to understand that the provision to understand what the provision directs requires or prescribes if the district commission finds applicable provisions of the town plan to be ambiguous the district commission for interpretive purposes shall consider bylaws but only to the extent that they implement and are consistent with those provisions and need not consider any other evidence. Good question. What are proscribes? Is it supposed to be prescribes? Line 15 I am not entirely certain that I think that that language is directly from a Supreme Court case on the subject. I've just never heard a word proscribed. But it means forbidden. That's what it means? An attorney in the room is nodding yes. Which one though? True or yes, one though. Just kidding. I'm sure everyone can correct me if I'm wrong. Page 44, line 1 conditions of permit may contain such requirements and conditions as are allowable proper exercise of the police power and which are appropriate within the respect within the respect to subdivisions A1 through 10 of this section including those set forth in 24 section 44 44 44 24 A2 44 14 1 D1 44 63 B 44 64 the dedication of lands for public use and the filing of bonds to ensure compliance. Requirements and conditions incorporated from Title 24 may be applied whether or not a local plan has been adopted. General requirements and conditions may be established by rule of the board. Other permits and approvals? Presumptions. The board may by rule allow the acceptance of a permit or permits or approval of any state agency with respect to subdivisions A1 through 5 of this section or a permit or permits of a specified municipal government with respect to subdivisions A1 through 7 and 9 and 10 of this section or a combination of such permits and approvals in lieu of evidence by the applicant. The acceptance of such approval, permit or permits shall create a presumption that the application is not detrimental to the public health and welfare with respect to the specific requirements for which it is accepted. Such a rule may be revoked or amended pursuant to the procedures set forth in the Vermont Administrative Procedure Act. The rules adopted by the board shall not approve the acceptance of a permit or approval of such an agency or a permit of a municipal government unless each of the following applies. The permit or approval satisfies the appropriate requirements of subsection A of this section. The board finds that the permit or approval is part of a program that reliably meets its goals such as achieving water quality standards. A presumption created under this subsection may be rebutted by the introduction of evidence contrary to the presumption staff. In the case of approvals and permits issued by the agency of natural resources there shall be no presumption for a permit or approval authorizing the discharge of a pollutant into water if uses of that water are already impaired by the pollutant. Admissible evidence of the technical determinations of the agency shall be accorded substantial deference by the district commissions. This next section starting on line 10 is the language that was on the previous page that was stroke. So it's been moved for clarity. A district commission in accordance with rules adopted by the board shall accept determinations issued by a development review board under the provisions of 24VSA 4420 with respect to local review of the municipal impacts under criteria of this section. The acceptance of such a determination if positive shall create a presumption that the application is not detrimental to the public health and welfare with respect to the specific requirement for which it is accepted and if negative shall create a presumption that the application is so detrimental. Any determinations positive or negative under the provisions of 24VSA section 4420 shall create presumptions only to the extent that the impacts under the criteria are limited to the municipality issuing the decision. 6087 denial of application A permit may not be denied solely for the reasons set forth in subdivision 6086 A 567 of this title. Reasonable conditions and requirements allowable in subsection 6086 C of this title may be attached to alleviate the burdens created. However, a permit may be denied under subdivision 6086 A5 of this title If the permit is for development in an interchange area that is not within an existing settlement 6088 burden of proof production and persuasion The initial burden of production to produce sufficient evidence for a district commission to make a factual determination shall be on the applicant with respect to subdivisions 6086 one through ten of this title The burden of persuasion shall be on the applicant with respect to subdivisions 86A one two three four eight A through C nine and ten of this title to show that the application meets the relevant standard. The burden shall be on any party opposing the application with respect to subdivisions 6086 A5 67 exception 8A through AC of this title to show that the application does not meet the relevant standard PH48 6089 Appeals Appeals of any act or decision of a district commission under this chapter for any district coordinator under subsection 6700 of this title shall be made to the environmental division in accordance with chapter 220 of this title for purposes of this section a decision of the chair of a district commission under section 6001E of this title on whether action has been taken to end of this chapter shall be considered an act or decision of the district commission in an appeal of an act or decision described in subsection A of this section an applicant shall have the burden of proof on the issues raised in his or her appeal the applicant whether or not an appellant shall have a burden to produce evidence sufficient to inform the division of the nature elements, context and impacts of the project to which the appeal relates section 6000 6090 recording of duration of permits recording in order to afford adequate notice of the terms and conditions of land use permits permit amendments and revocation of permits they shall be recorded in local land records recordings under this chapter shall be indexed as though the permatee were the grantor of a deed permits for a specified period any permit granted under this section for extraction of mineral resources operation of solid waste disposal facilities or logging above 2500 feet shall be for a specified period determined by the board accordance with the rules adopted under this chapter as a reasonable projection of the time during which the land will remain suitable for use if developed or subdivided as contemplated in the application and with due regard for the economic considerations attending the proposed development or subdivision other permits issued under this chapter shall be for an indefinite term as long as there is compliance with the conditions of the permit expiration dates contained in permits issued before July 1st 1994 involving developments that are not for extraction of mineral resources operation of solid waste disposal facilities or logging above 2000 feet are extended for an indefinite term as long as there is compliance with conditions of the permits change to non-jurisdictional use release from permit on application signed by each permitee the district commission may release land subject to a permit under this chapter from the obligations of that permit and the obligation to obtain amendments to the permit on finding of each of the following the use of the land as of the date of the application is not the same as the use of the land that caused the obligation to obtain a permit under this chapter the use of the land as of the date of the application does not constitute development or subdivision as defined in section 6001 of this title and would not require a permit or permit amendment but for the fact the land is already subject to a permit under this chapter the permitee or permitees are in compliance with the permit and their obligations under this chapter it shall be a condition of each affirmative decision under this subsection that a subsequent proposal of development or subdivision on the land to which the decision applies shall be subject to this chapter as if the land had never previously received a permit under this chapter an application for a decision under this subsection shall be made on a form prescribed by the board the form shall require evidence demonstrating that the application complies with subdivisions 1A through C of this subsection the application shall be processed in the manner described in section 6084 of this title and may be treated as a minor application under that section in determining whether to treat as a minor as minor as minor in application under this section the district commission shall apply the criteria of this subsection and not of subsection 6086A of this title section 6094 mitigation of forest blocks or connecting habitat a district commission may consider a proposal to mitigate through compensation the fragmentation of a forest block or connecting habitat if the applicant demonstrates that it is not feasible to avoid or minimize fragmentation of the block or connector in accordance with the respective requirements of subdivision 6086A 8B or C of this title district commission may approve the proposal only if it finds that the proposal will meet the requirements of the rules adopted under this section and will preserve a forest block or connecting habitat of similar quality and character to the forest block or connector affected by the development or subdivision the board in consultation with the secretary of natural resources shall adopt rules governing mitigation under this section the rules shall state the acreage ratio of forest block or connecting habitat to be preserved in relation to the block or connector affected by the development or subdivision compensation measures to be allowed under the rules shall be based on the on the ratio of land developed pursuant to subdivision 1 of this subsection and shall include preservation of a forest block or connecting habitat of similar quality and character to the block or connector of the development or subdivision effect deposit of an offsite mitigation fee into the Vermont housing and conservation trust fund under section 312 of this title this mitigation fee shall be derived as follows determine the number of acres of forest block or connecting habitat or both affected by the proposed development or subdivision multiply this number of affected acres by the ratio set forth in the rules multiply the resulting product by a price per acre value which shall be based on the amount that the commissioner of forest parks and recreation determines to be the recent per acre cost to acquire conservation easements for forest blocks and connecting habitat of similar quality and character in the same geographic region as the proposed development or subdivision the Vermont housing and conservation board shall use such a fee to preserve in the adjacent geographic area a forest block or connecting habitat of similar quality and character to the block or connector affected by the development or subdivision such other compensation measures as the rules may authorize the mitigation of impact the mitigation of impact on a forest block or connecting habitat or both shall be structured also to mitigate the impacts under the criteria of subsection 6086A of this title other than subdivisions 8VNC to land or resources within the block or vector all forest blocks and connecting habitat preserved by preserved pursuant to this section shall be protected by permanent easement permanent conservation easements that grant development rights and include conservation restrictions and are conveyed to a qualified holder as defined in section 821 of this title with the ability to monitor and enforce easements in perpetuity resource mapping forest blocks 10 DSA section 127 is amended to read so we're out of the Act 250 chapter now and the rest of the changes will be to other sections and titles resource mapping the secretary of natural resources the secretary shall complete and maintain resource mapping based on the geographic information system or other technology the mapping shall identify natural resources throughout the state including forest blocks that may be relevant to the consideration of energy projects and projects subject to chapter 151 of this title the center for geographic information shall be available to provide assistance to the secretary in carrying out resource mapping so we made a statement we're now out of the Act 250 to other areas is the intent to bring these other areas into the UAT 250 processes I mostly just meant we were out of the amendments to the actual statute all of these things are related to Act 250 these promises for example those forest blocks maps forest blocked maps will be relevant to the forest block mitigation and criteria the secretary shall consider resource maps under this subsection A of this section when providing evidence and recommendations to the Public Utility Commission under 30DSA section 248 E5 and when commenting on or providing recommendations under chapter 151 of this title to district commissions on other projects chapter 151 is the Act 250 chapter by the way the secretary shall establish and maintain written procedures of process and science based criteria for updating resource maps developed under subsection A of this section before establishing or revising these procedures the secretary shall provide opportunities for protected parties and the public to submit relevant information and recommendations section 5 enhanced designation appeal 24VSA section 2793F is added to read enhanced designation a municipality that has received or applies for designation of a downtown development district village center new town center or growth center under this chapter may also apply for an enhanced designation pursuant to this section pursuant to this section in order to allow the municipality in lieu of the in lieu of the district commissions under 10VSA chapter 151 to ensure that the land to ensure that land development within the designated area complies with the criteria set forth in 10VSA section 6086A as used in this section land development has the same meaning as in section 303 of this chapter a municipality seeking an enhanced designation shall demonstrate that its bylaws ensure that land development in the designated area complies with the criteria set forth in 10VSA section 6086A demonstrate that it has the capability to review land development for compliance with those criteria and to enforce its decisions identify those areas within the municipality that constitute critical resource areas within the meaning of 10VSA section 6001 satisfy such requirements such other requirements as the state board shall adopt by rule the state board shall adopt rules with this section and may grant or conditionally grant an application for enhanced designation if it meets the requirements of this section and the adopted rules section 6 24VSA section 2798 is amended to read designation decisions appeal a person aggrieved by a designation decision of the state board under one or more of sections 2793 to 2793F of this title may appeal to the Vermont environmental review board establish under 10VSA chapter 151 within 30 days of the decision if the decision pertains to designation of a growth center under section 2793C of this title the period for filing an appeal shall be told by the filing of a request for reconsideration under that section and shall commence to run in full on the state board's issuance of a decision on that request the Vermont environmental review board shall conduct a de novo hearing on the decision under appeal and shall proceed in accordance with the contested case requirements of the Vermont administrative procedure act the Vermont environmental review board shall issue a final decision within 90 days of the filing of the appeal the provisions of 10VSA section 6024 regarding assistance to the Vermont environmental review board from other departments and agencies of the state shall apply to appeals under this section regional and municipal planning section 7 24VSA section 4348F is amended to read a regional plan or amendment shall be adopted by not less than a 60% vote for the commissioners representing municipalities in accordance with the bylaws of the regional planning commission and immediately submitted to the legislative bodies of the municipalities that comprise the region the plan or amendment shall be considered duly adopted 35 days after the date of adoption unless within 35 days of the date of adoption the regional planning commission receives certification from the legislative bodies of a majority of the municipalities in the region be doing the proposed plan or amendment in case of such a view the plan or amendment shall be deed rejected under adoption the regional planning commission shall submit the plan or amendment to the Vermont environmental review board established under 10VSA chapter 151 which shall approve the plan or amendment if it determines that the plan or amendment is consistent with the goals of section 4302 of this title the plan or amendment shall take effect on the issuance of such a approval the board shall issue its decision within 30 days after receiving the plan or amendment section 8 24VSA section 4348A is amended to read elements of a regional plan a regional plan shall be consistent with the goals established in section 4302 of this title and shall include the following a land use element which shall consist of a map and statement of present and prospective land uses that indicates those areas proposed for forests, recreation agriculture using the agricultural lands identification process established in 6VSA section 8 residents, commerce industries, public and semi-public uses open spaces, areas reserved for floodplain and areas identified by the state regional planning commission or municipalities that require special consideration for aquifer protection for wetland protection for the maintenance of forest blocks wildlife habitat and habitat connectors or for other conservation purposes indicates those areas within the region that are likely candidates for designation under sections 2793 downtown development districts 2793A village centers 2793B and 2793C growth centers of this title indicates those areas that are important that are important as forest blocks and habitat connectors and plans for land development in those areas to minimize forest fragmentation and promote the health, viability and ecological function of forests. A plan may include specific policies to encourage the active management of those areas for wildlife habitat water quality timber production, recreation or other values or functions identified by the regional planning commission indicates those areas that constitute critical resource areas as defined in 10 BSA section 6001 section 9 24 BSA section 4382 is amended to read the plan for a municipality a plan for a municipality shall be consistent with the goals established in section 4302 of this title and compatible with approved plans of other municipalities in the region and with the regional plan and shall include in the following dot dot dot so I'm looking at the time and I'm thinking of our legislative council's ability to keep reading to us and I'm thinking that it might be appropriate to pause here and have Laura and Ellen come up with another two hour chunk starting, we would pick up back here and then have time for the committee to ask questions and have a conversation with Ellen on what we've heard well done, good meeting we have an overview of the land use plan framework at three so while I still have you quickly so you all may have seen a present this morning we have moving these things over it sort of took up about a quarter of the space in our room you're going to read this to us just say the word and I will we were saving paper so well explain how you so this is the final report of the commission on act 250 the next 50 years is all of the report including all 19 appendices if you don't want it I'll take it back please don't just throw it out the window I will recycle it as maybe necessary there are people who wanted a copy so if you think you will use a digital copy more frequently because I know you will be looking at it please either let me or Laura know and we will properly recycle them or hand them to someone who does want to pour over we do have both of those the appendices and the report the report is now on the legislative reports page as well as your page so if you want to find it it is easy for you to find online with the appendices with the appendices and I think there is a separate document without the appendices if you don't want on 700 pages 765 pages we're planning policy manager in the department of housing and community development and I'm here to give an overview of land use at a very introductory level so the understandings are prescribed in this presentation and we were rushing around this morning because there was no water at national level so we didn't bring the handouts so I apologize and this is the first time that I've been a witness in any committee before the legislature if you're available on our web page they're not here okay great we love to be here for you so chair feel free to interrupt me throughout the presentation and ask any questions and before we begin I just want to be useful to know how many of you even in the room have served on local planning commissions developing new boards conservation commissions that's great I think those are raised hands and that volunteerism makes Vermont really strong it's what makes the local planning framework and regional planning framework work throughout the state and most folks that get involved in planning can identify what makes it a local community but it's certainly a lot harder to build the infrastructure that supports one and that's because land use and community planning is complex and ongoing but it really matters it shapes the quality of lives we live in communities across the state and it shapes the lives of future Vermonters and if we don't plan we are planning to fail does anybody know who I have this I can see a great image but you guys can't well there's a cool picture of Benjamin Franklin by name Coonskin Cap oh there we go there's an animation there we go I gave it away so why do we plan community planning is a lot like retirement planning we know we need to do it but it's easier fun but as Benjamin Franklin said by doing nothing I'm setting myself up for failure so just like successful individuals households and businesses successful local state and regional governments plan for the future and throughout the state there are just incredible examples like this one here of towns that are bringing plans to life and transforming their communities land use planning does that and without it we default to reactive decision making that can really erode our quality of life it can waste public taxpayer money and it can mean missed opportunities for communities nearly every policy made in this building shapes land use from energy to transportation environmental protection economic development from taxation to water quality coordinating all these policies is very difficult I like to think of Vermont's planning framework especially at the local and regional levels like a Swiss army knife it's a handy way to coordinate diverse policies into an integrated multi-use tool where we can solve problems and you can typically find in the plan data analysis vision, policy and actions that a community intends to take and although we don't successfully act on every plan we make the process always makes us better informed that's because the building activates the shared wisdom of the participants and builds community sometimes even horses right it asks questions like what kind of growth can we afford and why aren't businesses moving to our community Vermont really has a long history of building the planning framework we use to solve today's challenges and more importantly tomorrow's challenges a key thing to know about Vermont's planning framework is municipal authority and of course there's the U.S. Constitution and there's federal case law and there's federal law but some states get broad authorities to local governments and they're called point rule states and some states get narrow authority and they're called Dylan's rule states Judge Dylan of Iowa ruled that municipal governments have only those powers expressly granted to them by the state legislature and Vermont is a Dylan's rule state and so the legislature establishes general municipal law and it allows municipality to depart from that law through charge and most municipal law is found in title 24 and that includes the planning act so the act began in 1921 when Vermont formally enabled municipal plans and planning commissions for the I'm sorry to interrupt I'm just interested to know if you have a comparison between Dylan's rule and home rule in terms of benefits and potential consequences so that we have a better understanding as to what was our forefathers thinking we can adopt a Dylan's approach towards municipal governance you know I don't know the answer for that it's something that we could look into and look back with there's a spectrum of states some have very strong home rules some are Dylan and there's a lot that kind of have a hybrid system but I'll make that with that question so the planning act began in 1921 when Vermont formally enabled municipal plans and planning commissions for the convenience, utility and public welfare that across throughout planning across the country and I'll skip this and I'll take slides here it's skipping two slides so in 1930 I'll do this from memory but in 1931 the state first enabled zoning and that's because we were really urbanizing it looks like if you're following on in your life the six slides are there oh they are there okay I'm not sure why that's a whatever so with plans in 21 we have a local regulation in 1931 and in 1960s the 1960s were really a landmark technical planning in Vermont and that's because the 50s brought the ski resorts the highways, IBM major employer and we were really seeing unprecedented change and municipalities that were unprepared to manage some of the growth that was going on and Governor's Hoff and Davis turned to planning to set a vision for Vermont's preferred pattern of development that remains today they prioritized planning for development so as to maintain the historic settlement pattern of compact villages and urban centers separated by rural countryside and not this they recognized that Vermont's traditional settlement pattern really makes Vermont Vermont and that it's integral to our economy and quality of life and it's Vermont's key stone land use goal and now we skip to 14 let me just exit out of this you can present from an ipod we have an ipod from yeah we are you sure about that it makes ours probably was the same too yeah oh the same yeah okay so it's early okay haven't you fun or technology is so fun so I'll I'll do my best just talk through this so we got through 1960 we come to 1968 that's when Vermont did a major overhaul of the municipal and regional planning act expanding the role of regional planning and planning commissions and strengthening municipal planning and I want you to keep in mind that the planning act 250 the state's land use act which came to play two years later act 250 created the state use land use planning and regulation and it enabled plan policies maps and development review criteria and the development review criteria survived the 70s but the natural resources for capability and development plan did not for regulatory use even so state agencies actively plan and that's the slide here actively plan coordination with other state regional and local partners and state plans affecting land use must be consistent with the planning goals and compatible with the regional and approved local plans 1988 rolled around and that was the last really major amendment to the planning act and that reworked framework for coordinated planning and growth management and enhanced shared accountability across state, regional and local governments and with the state's planning goals which I'll detail shortly and just to give the specifics of that there are 14 planning goals that were regional and municipal plan requirements which you just heard a few of in the proposed legislation an optional regional review and approval of municipal plans and funding for municipal and regional planning I won't dwell on the 14 goals or list all 14 but there are 14 planning goals and they're very comprehensive in scope from soil resilience to economic development housing, natural resources wildlife transportation public facilities and utilities a long list in terms of regional planning Vermont does not have strong county government and in the absence of county government we have 11 regional planning commissions and they're integral to helping towns cooperate and plan for their futures 2.9 million is allocated annually to the regional planning commissions through the municipal and regional planning fund with monies from the property transfer tax and DHCD, the Department of Housing Community Development administers annual performance grants for those funds based on work plans all of their work that they do according to those work plans is documented in that does annual report and that does the association that represents RPCs and highlights things like I was just a little bit you keep up though I mean some of them are on there like planning goals are there yeah yeah I mean you can follow on your yeah you can see there are the planning goals so that might be the best way to go with this unless we want to pause and try to fix it it's not at all there anymore I mean it's not it's just not yeah can you do that then we cannot we'll plug this I can scroll it's been a day you can see the 14 planning goals you can see a little bit about the regional planning commissions they mostly follow county boundaries but they're not all they don't perfectly align with the counties and so municipal planning the communities that choose had a choice to plan an optional exercise but those that do do so in eight year cycles and have the option of having the plan concurrent by the RPC for conformance now towns towns may be consistent with the planning goals but must be consistent if the town wants to see regional approval but it's a somewhat important distinction regional approval is essential in order to qualify for state grants RPC opens well it's really a grant by grant program but there are many grants like municipal planning grant better connections grant for downtown revitalization there's agency transportation bike pad that looks for approved municipal plans and often they're looking to connect the project back to content that's in that plan same thing with designation eligibility the state designated areas that Chris is going to talk about after being and I think qualification for emergency relief assistance so the EREF emergency relief assistance you know I don't know if an approved plan is required but I know they have a checklist that if they meet that the municipality gets a higher higher rate of assistance so the elements of municipal plan drafting so drafting one of these plans 14 goals 12 out elements it's no small fee for many volunteers but it helps communities achieve shared goals and so these are the 12 items that must be included in municipal plan it's pretty much the same list for a regional plan except that a regional plan does not have to have a separate educational facilities when it comes to planning if you're not doing it with people I think you're doing it to them so I think this is just a nugget of wisdom and although planning commissions prepare the plan for adoption and locally the slug board or the voters approve it representative public participation is really critical to any plan success it can fall flat without a lot of broad outreach the other thing that's important is accessibility and plans containing lots of useful data and many municipalities and RPCs are working on ways to make them even more accessible and they are more user friendly and more actionable I just read Berlin's town plan last week 36 pages it's concise visually rich towns and regions are doing some pretty innovative things Act 90 also emphasized implementation accountability in municipal plans so municipalities must be actively implementing their plan to maintain RPC confirmation implementation can look like a variety of things it could be regulatory or non-regulatory regulatory implementation could include zoning regulation and non-regulatory implementation could include capital planning capital planning is one of the most common implementation techniques and so there's the list of implementation tools that are typical municipalities have come a long way since 1921 in Vermont communities with approved plans for instance consistently average above 80% and as of this month 78% of municipalities have chosen to regulate for using zoning or subdivision to understand the scope of the people that are involved more than 5,000 volunteers are planning for more than 90 billion dollars in property for that value that's a big community of planners and a huge responsibility so to gain a sense of what this means in terms of population what would you guess the median population of Vermont town median 5,000 and 5,000 a thousand medium so it's 1,220 sale well done the scope of Vermont town volunteers undertake this really huge responsibility on their evenings and weekends and with limited resources and it's a system that can easily be overwhelmed with legislation that doesn't recognize this level of municipal capacity but DHCD the department offers several resources to support municipal planning for instance municipal planning grants have been a critical source of funding to support municipal planning over the years we had more than almost one million dollars in requests and awarded $450,000 to 67 communities to support a variety of municipal planning projects another great resource we have is the municipal planning manual and this was completely out there in 2016 we've linked it or at Florida's linked it kindly on your web page and we also publish a online address and that has external links where you can find the current plans and regulations of every community so what's the impact what difference has all this work made I think it's easy to point to Vermont failures to live up to this foremost land use goal but I'm certainly struck by the differences I see when I travel around the country and especially you can go over to the Adirondacks or the centers or rivers that you wouldn't want a kid to swim in but what is true in the 1920s or what was true in the 1920s and 30s and 60s and 80s remains true today when Vermont focuses on its land use goals it achieves many goals and that's because we know the compact development offers the best ROI on public infrastructure which is an investment of public infrastructure it's energy efficient it grows healthier people walkable areas are 2.5 times more likely than unwalkable areas to get 30 minutes of daily activity it expands transportation choice it makes transit work it's really appealing to downsizing seniors and millennials and making our centers more economically competitive and it's better for the environment than scattered development I think the challenges of today aren't that different than many of the questions Vermont was asking in the 60s and you're asking how do we make centered development the first and best option how can we encourage coordination and cooperation among governments how do we make our planning inclusive and representative of everybody in town and everybody in the region and how can we bring plans off the shelf with funding that puts community priorities into action Representative Forex it doesn't make any difference but how do you come up with a medium population of 1,222 when there are 650,000 people in the state and there are 251 towns in this valley it's the bin it's not the average it's the middle bin versus the mean it's the average you are four points that the challenges did not get transcribed on this but I think that was really helpful like we tried to write them down I imagine there are other challenges too as we go into the 21st century and find the need for for economic development broadband other services we are looking forward to while facing some of these challenges can you just send us those I tried to write down what you talked about I would just like to memorialize and think about that because it's really powerful for us to be envisioning the value of what planning can provide for communities they are the other challenges we have just as you pointed out in our earlier quote of the gold we love being from a rural community we love that condensed nature of the uniqueness of each of those villages and not to see it sprawl in towards a losing that identity of those communities so that's another for their challenge of how to provide services such as police water or something while at the same time trying to support communities in maintaining or enhancing their own identities so if we could just get those and then the other thoughts we'll take it finally to break ourselves about a pre-30 it's not in your favor it's a little bit more expensive to develop in our downtowns it's a lot more difficult to permit projects because you have neighbors you have to work with there's infrastructure challenges there's limited access to the site the land is more expensive so without some kind of financial incentive in there to help close this gap this is the kind of cheapest and easiest development we see in Vermont and many people are alarmed by this our partners at the NRC under courts and parcelization and forced fragmentation this is the kind of result that we get when kind of the least type of development is what we support we want to protect our farms we want to keep them prosperous we want to keep them healthy and I think the thing to think about in our downtowns as we support compact development in these centers it encourages higher better use of that existing land and it takes the pressure to develop off into our farmland so the houses won't be built here if there's more opportunities this is close to where our jobs and services are in many ways I see community planning we're making decisions much like the farmer who needs to decide what kind of crops are going to return the biggest return on his investment that's the goal I wouldn't say all communities do the best job doing that and here's some basic information about some of the fiscal and environmental benefits of compact development people call it smart growth isn't that what you're talking about while developers it's cheaper and easier for them to develop in the countryside it's not cheaper and easier for the rest of us when that's fallen kind of development and there are many studies that show the difference in cost benefit between investing and developing multi-store buildings and a compact center versus Google's sprawl subdivision and this costs all of us I love this slide making this thing one other part and that's the cost communities for $100 of a sense value of non-development last I knew it was $0.85 $0.85 to $100 versus for something for development you can see $130 is even way way low do you know what that is now I don't know I can try to get some additional that would be awesome because as you're well aware this committee is working to protect now in that undeveloped land and you look at these two differences and then project if we didn't do anything to go in how much does that work and it's really hard to study in Vermont this is a study from another jurisdiction because we just don't have the rate of development to really do a good study but my information is actually from New Hampshire and maybe we're progressing a bit but we do have current use is a great tool to support to discourage old development is it enough and it's actually $50 great question I would call it Def Brighton did a study I think that was about she did a recent study but she also did one about 15 years ago not that substantiated this looking at pilot projects around the state yeah I remember Swarka for much of it it's hard to it can be done it's as usual but the basic but the basic tenants are true you can kind of see the logic of it you know we're getting more bang for our mild infrastructure leads to our next slide impervious services is a big issue of concern for this committee we need it everybody needs a road but in the complex center you're getting more jobs value out of that same square acre of impervious and you are in kind of a rule setting so we follow that so for an acre of road that serves one house where as an acre of road in the cell there is getting we're getting a lot more benefit for that compact development supports some of our air quality goals and reduces our emissions as well and this is a study from census data that shows that our miles travel depending on where you live and you will see in any of our designated communities the amount of vehicle miles travel is substantially lower than some of our other areas the cost of transportation it's a fact of life in a rural state that we just need a car but it's very expensive and this has a detrimental effect on the lower income people living in a compact center is often higher than driving out to a rural house and buying in that market but when you look at the costs from an energy standpoint and when you look at it from a fuel standpoint they often balance out so the real cost of your housing should include transportation and if you live in a center you can significantly reduce your transportation cost and it comes with a significant amount of fuel I have a child and she is healthy but a lot of American children are getting heavier and heavier probably on video games the fact that matters is we spend a lot of time in our cars there's significant studies that show communities, kids that live in communities where they can walk to school ride a bike and there's opportunities for them and this is a study in Vermont people would really like to live in these areas if there were opportunities there's just not enough of them or enough of them that they can afford the magic number for close enough I used to know was a quarter of a mile a half a mile, yeah we generally look at villages a quarter mile is walkable and a village context and then a half a mile and a town town but there's tomography there's lots of different areas so we got some of the reasons why compact development makes sense and just to reiterate it supports a lot of our land use values it makes economic sense it makes environmental sense it's good for our people and it saves money excuse me what kind of designations do we have those designations this just shows the towns with designations it just shows towns that have one of the designations and many communities will have multiple designations if you want additional information on that Jacob had a link to that planning atlas you can look up all the different designations there you can zoom in you can figure out the exact boundaries of the building I see one of my communities I thought had a designation that's blank I don't know what the age is I think it's current so overarching view compact development supports a lot of our values planning and regulation itself is not the answer activity is not really cracking the knot so about 20 years ago the legislature decided to create these designations programs they came at different times over the years and they were developed for different reasons the first was the downtown designations program which was established in 1998 we have 23 of them and they are kind of the major towns so it's like the Montpeliers and St. John's the bigger principal communities the primary benefit that our downtowns get are tax credits but they also receive special funds to meet everything pedestrian improvements in the downtown area they also receive special training and service from the state next was villages it's great that you did this for the downtowns but we want some too our villages are much much smaller and I'm going to show you different examples really the only major benefit they get are these tax credits and we'll talk about tax credits in a second next came U-town centers where it was basically it's great that these traditional centers have a designation but what about communities that never had a heart or never had a traditional center so thank South Burlington which is probably only on a heart yeah so thank South Burlington and Colchester and some of our more modern areas where they were kind of exerbin housing development and many of these communities really truly want a center but they would like to recognize an area and tools to develop a new town center these are our imagine an egg so these top three are kind of our core designations so the tiny little middle and these other these add-on designations are the rings around these areas so the white part of the egg and the upper ones of the other parts the compact usually commercial core community and the other destinations are the larger areas that surround them one is housing focused we have the housing problem in the state a lot of the housing in and around our downtown some villages is in poor condition it makes it hard to recruit people here to get jobs when they see our housing stock is in poor shape so this was a designation designed to encourage and support new housing development in and around our centers and then there was a larger area called the rose centers there's a limited number of communities there's six of these and we'll see I'll show you the scales these are much larger areas for practical matters we can't fit every type of you she'd want in a compact center like it or not car dealerships need to be somewhere and they need to go into place and let's figure out a framework and make sure that they are located and cited in a way that doesn't hurt the vitality of the public center that it all hangs together so those are the different programs we have they serve different purposes one's focused on community revitalization and fixing up existing buildings one's focused on housing and one the rose centers are more focused on planning and imagining what your town should be and how can we use these regulatory tools to go build this out any questions there? good end of the day we're almost there so I've talked a little bit about the major benefits our arts and money we're also technical support communities that are designated are often recognized by our sister agencies like if they apply for a biped grant and they have a designation they get extra points so they're more likely to receive funding over other communities a little bit of kind of fiber here is giving this context is actually 50 recognizes the designation active 15 talks about existing settlements and while our designated area is not necessarily equal to existing settlements that's kind of as close as we could get they're eligible for reduced fees and exemptions from land gains taxes this is a project you guys this is the French block this building the upper floors have been vacant since the time of FDR they just had the ribbon cutting a couple of weeks ago it's 18 new units of housing in the downtown the reason why it wasn't developed is a long sort of history but partly due to economics this is an existing building but the upper floors were not being used because it cost a lot of money to install an elevator system and bring these buildings out together so this is why we have these tax credits that are designed to kind of close that gap and kind of make these marginal developments happen otherwise we wouldn't we don't generate a lot of square foot revenue in these buildings without this piece in there to kind of make the financing work the banks wouldn't buy it so this has been a wildly successful program it's just in ways and means and just significantly exceeding what we have available but if you see we've done a lot of these this is a five year snapshot I think what's great is 11 million dollars in these tax credits have leveraged over 150 million dollars in the private investment and Representative Ansel loves this because what we're doing is we're taking general fund money and we're growing the grant list which is the education fund so it's a very popular program and it's really made a difference for people who are seeing their buildings fixed up and usually one building kind of spurs the next neighboring building for them to consider making an effort what you and I talked about the other day you sort of tax credit one on one like who buy them, how does it work explain just the height a little bit more than you have why and how they work so you have two options handing out money in the state you can either give people a grant or you can give people a tax credit which does not have sufficient tax liability if I give you a $50,000 tax credit you may be hard pressed to claim that on your taxes so the mechanism that's allowed is banks purchase these credits so if I'm the lender on the construction project and I have an allocation of tax credits from the state of Vermont essentially the state of Vermont's voting it's full fading credit behind this project saying finance this project if this project is complete it will cost these credits so the banks buy the credits they discount them a little bit so if you give them $100 they'll give you $95 back they make a little profit they're putting their money under risk so I think it's a reasonable cost but it makes these projects happen that otherwise would because they can't be financed by revenue streams that you can charge for a unit is it a national market that they sell these tax credits well there are there's federal tax credits and there's state of Vermont tax credit so our state of Vermont downtown and below state of Vermont tax credit is just us and people who can buy them are local banks insurance companies and what's our our captive insurers they can buy them they have the tax liability happy in the end as far as the grand list the presumption is but for these credits the improvement wouldn't happen so we get the improved building the value of these buildings increases and that small little incentive that we paid is payback and perpetuity because these people are paying higher property taxes is there there's unspent demand there for that your amazing means asking for an increase in the cap of this program right so there's a $2.4 million cap right now the governor's budget asks for a $200,000 increase but the reality is you know I've got the numbers on the center sheet I want to say we have $2 million more in requests than we have in funding this last round and then that's also reduction in revenue coming to the side absolutely yeah I mean it's for non-revenue but if you accept the argument that someone says this is an investment in infrastructure housing and buildings that's not moving anywhere it just increases the value of the grand list and it revitalizes our community there's a lot of kind of spin-off values that these investments have so the state down the road gets this money back because the buildings have improved value they're paying higher property taxes so they get that original investment pretty quickly we've done some analysis on projects as little as like 2-3 years the state's tax grant investment is paid back and increased property taxes representative so good question are there any moderate income conditions on these things? yeah it really disciplines and my second part is that private developers are part of that private investment this our program is primarily it's the major tool for private property and small-time developers non-profit developers to use we typically use support affordable housing projects but we kind of have an un-set agreement only if they're really needed like this project was supported by BACB the community development block grant program and our program it was a big expensive project and they had a gap in the middle so they came the most affordable housing projects in our downtown settings for the same reason the economics don't work but for kind of BACB and other partners making these investments that's what's going to happen so now this is a foreclosure? portions of it are it's mixed is this project filled now? I think I don't know the exact answer but they had a grand opening about a month ago and there was a very long way if they're fully filled in now I don't know but there's huge demand but if there's opportunities for people to live in these areas we need to make more of that because people do want to live there and there is a lot of concern about our growing demographic I live in Calis, I live in a little woods when I'm 70 I don't want to live there this is where I want to live because I want to be a right-wing people my age and I want to be able to walk to the store and the doctor's office and the pharmacy and that's kind of where I want to land and our demographics are changing so we need to look for opportunities to make it easier to develop these centers because otherwise in the macro sense housing is going to happen somewhere and if you don't do something to make it happen here it will happen out and it will come to your side because it's cheaper another thing that we're talking about I'm glad that you're not sure we're starting a little bit another, and this is a little bit of just a preview Act T-50 recognizes these centers and right now this picks up on your question for projects that meet certain affordability standards and they're located in these centers they can be exempted from Act T-50 review this has been a significant savings of kind of the time it takes to bring a project to completely permitting it takes about 6 months off the permitting time frame and it saves about $50,000 or $60,000 on a project and ultimately these are funding that the state pays for but by making these projects happen more quickly and providing these opportunities in areas where people want to go it supports how it works for all environmental properties so this is a quick just to give you a perspective on areas of land of the different designation this is somewhat out of date because we do add designations once a month when the downtown board meets the big blob in the corner this is a total land area on down to the different designations grow centers 12 square miles villages 8 square miles downtowns 3 neighborhoods 2 and new town centers you can barely even see a .3 point here is that I like to think of this as you know we talk about critical habitat for critters this is important habitat for people these are areas where people need to live and we want to make sure that these areas are out to the extent they can because it takes pressures off the other areas so I'm going to quickly go through the different designations where they are and kind of get you a sense of their relative size if you have any questions again our premier top shelf designations downtowns these are our larger communities all over the state 23 of them size of downtowns varies downtown at 208 acres and Bristol is our tiniest at 2.3 and then you can see some information on the distribution they're generally super super small for bacterias they're the commercial core of the communities there's two larger examples so you can see Burlington so notice we didn't designate the neighborhoods that surround the traditional commercial core we just designate kind of the business district in Bristol it is just kind of main street it is not the neighborhoods that surround scale very different yeah but you're familiar with it so you know the scale just had a curiosity why a town the size of Bristol would go for a downtown designations opposed to a village designations because they get more benefits there's a downtown transportation fund that enables them to make pedestrian improvements I don't know if you know Bristol very well but there's a market back behind there all the streetscaping and all kind of pedestrian improvements to make that a nicer better connected place improvements they made to their village we're all funded with the downtown transportation what's that sort of if it's the premier designation give us an example of the difference what do these towns have to demonstrate in order to get those businesses so they have to create a non-profit organization the community to make sure there's a decent mix of businesses we learn that just because you build it they won't necessarily come so you need the community fully invested in revitalizing the community, marketing the businesses and supporting them otherwise you know it's a tough market competing against large internet retailers and unless the community is going to support the local businesses and make sure there's a good mix of businesses it's hard to keep getting this vital and it's a hard lift for many communities just to maintain another group of the downtown transportation I didn't realize it was part of our designation thank you the Los Angeles designation gets much much smaller this is really our growth sector you know you hear a lot of concerns in this building about the needs for rural economic development and these tax codes are a great tool to do a small project you know it's an existing building we want to improve it and because the scale is so small we find it does make a difference you know like a village store getting revitalized in the community after years of being close it makes a huge difference usually one or two of these small buildings it doesn't happen overnight and our downtowns and our rural areas didn't decline overnight but we've seen remarkable success in their vitality and they kind of bouncing back after years of decline there's a little bit on scale Richmond is our largest maybe I think using our largest designated village center we're familiar with Richmond so it's just the commercial area and then over here there's Westbrook, Tiny Westbrook I live in Calis and I'm familiar with Maple Corner it's designated village center there's five buildings so the scale matters but again we're just capturing the civic war of the community the public building the post office and the commercial buildings how do we make downtown transportation funding available they have the same challenges they absolutely do you should talk to Senator Clarkson I'm just proposing a bill that's focused on obesity and it considers increasing the funding for allowing certain villages to participate but it's hard it takes money to get things done there's lots of competing priorities in the chat window Newtown Center designation again this is for communities without a traditional center Colchester in South Burlington a little bit on their size this is Colchester's village center Newtown Center this was designated that presumed the CERC was going to be built and this was going to be the new center of the community it wasn't built nevertheless they've gotten some pretty good high density development in this area and it will be fully developed and what's nice is you'll have this compact development here and then you'll have all this open countryside around it President McCullough so Colchester has what I would call historic town center but they how did they get a Newtown Center did they not apply for their historic Colchester it has like 17 centers but they saw the opportunity in the CERC coming and they thought it would generate a lot of tribins and they wanted to get ahead of that so that's what South Burlington is probably a better example of what we put in the statue division for a Newtown Center they've been working at this for 50 years but Lesterhards this year they've passed a huge $25 million on or something of that nature to build some civic buildings in this Newtown Center the mall the new mall is kind of dying there's proposals on the table to convert a lot of that back into housing to put a grid of streets on that to kind of make it a core so they're putting a lot of their money is that first slide that I showed you at the Laird Square that was a multi-story dense affordable housing in the Town Center so communities can do it but it takes a lot of money to make it work where was there a church town meeting hall originally do you know I don't think they ever had one they never had one you know it was suburban development outgrowth from Burlington and Burlington essentially was their center at some point it was a farm community that must have had some so route 2 the fat show would have been described by route 2 between Hinesburg Road and now the clover the town hall was there and shopping was there several grocery stores and the Grange quickly I'm going to speed it up a little bit neighborhood development areas we need housing the health and the quality the housing stock in and around our downtowns is inter-related to the health of the commercial center so to the extent we have good quality housing we have a high concentration of people who live there who shop and use that center but in many communities the quality of housing stock is poor there are opportunities to infill and rebuild the inter-related areas so this designation was aimed at the major benefit that comes with this is reduction of land gains tax so if we make an improvement we don't have to pay the land gains tax when we sell building the other major benefit is the priority housing project benefit so projects within these areas do not have to go through act 250 you can qualify it is our most sophisticated and our newest designation that looks at local bylaws and I'm telling you a little bit more about this because this is the predecessor to our concept that's coming for enhanced designation let's ask a community to raise its standards and if it can raise its standards let's give it the opportunity decisions and build out in a way that supports all land use goals so what will it be density can we allow the density and the development to get the most out of your system infrastructure we want to make sure that the traditional design of the neighborhood is respected we want to make sure that we have complete streets and we want to make sure our important natural resources are protected and we also don't want to see people build in the flood lane we've earned some blessings are any of those existing ones within like within a downtown? within a downtown designation any of these? right so the downtown the downtown would be the core in the middle and this would be our area around it so like Burlington's downtown area that you saw on there there's a large area that actually extends up to more than this is Manchester's their core is their village center because I guess it's included in orange the blue is their neighborhood development area there's infill opportunities here but another sub portion is not blue there's a work that runs through there it's up to flood so we just didn't designate that area it's not eligible for the benefits and we asked the community to have bylaws in place to ensure that this build out respects their traditional development you know your rivers I understand gross center designation is the most difficult designation to receive it is the most rigorous review process we only have six of these these are 20 year designations and they're coming up in their 10th year right now we have five year check-ins on them to see how they're doing and the goal of it is it's a little bit different area where you want to concentrate your development and you want to protect your natural resources outside that area one of the metrics we look at is how much growth is happening within your gross center when they check in versus outside and I think overwhelming outcomes making up a number that I think is pretty less I want to say 80% of new development in these gross center communities is a current in their gross center so it is a tool that works for development but this kind of framework to support compact development with incentives that is proven to be an effective tool here's two gross centers St. Albans to the north this is in the middle is their downtown designated center and the ring around it is their gross center St. Albans is super tidy in their gross center because they're surrounded by St. Albans Town so they're not going to really be much bigger one of the images I gave you of the egg yoke with the ring around it this is Bennington's so they're designated downtown surrounded by their gross center so it's while our downtowns are important they're important to our brand, our economy kind of our sense of place because they are traditionally built on rivers they're all subject to an increased flood risk that said most I think 70% of all of our businesses are located within a while of a designated center we've made significant investments in these communities it's really hard to move them I don't think we'll ever get enough money to move Brattaburro to another place so kind of what are we to do we know our climate is changing we know floods will increase it's not a matter of if it's just a matter of when so we can't take steps now to protect these important economic centers it makes a whole lot of sense to make an investment now to avoid a cost and it does to kind of pay after the fact and lose all that business and kind of just close down you know I'm very recently suffered floods you know it's a big mess to clean up every year risk of floods Brattaburro last week Ice Jam a lot of the housing development so it's we need to get out of this and there's an opportunity to do this and we've been working at this for a while and this kind of concept of allowing our compact development centers to kind of support the infill flood truth these buildings so they can withstand and weather the next events but let's work so we can discourage development on the flood plain outside these centers figure out tools where we can kind of restore flood plain and remove the verms to protect these areas there's lots of opportunities to restore river function up and down from these areas and to reduce the impacts of future floods and this is kind of the basis of the enhanced designation for the proposal that we hope to tell you more about in these where we provide incentives to make our buildings flood-proof and we encourage communities to pass the local bylaws to discourage development on the flood plain Are there incentives Chris or are there expected to be for agricultural verms that created prior to the the now show huh? I haven't got that far in the conversation but we had a meeting with Mike 500 Rivers program and we'll have to see how far this proposal gets what we envisioned was you know our downtown tax credits they mostly pay for code improvements for existing buildings but they could also pay for flood proof for those buildings too that would be a big help but the ecosystem restoration program if your community got designated maybe you would get priority consideration for those verms that are there I mean there's a tool to help farmers be paid when their land is being flooded you know there's lots of opportunities there but we need to have the conversation to figure out is there a broad support for this process part of the incentive to get communities to step up is active duty relief so there's a trade-off and it's something we look forward to talking to you about in the coming weeks so I hope this helped a little bit I know it's a lot in late the day but thanks for your attention it's not Monday any questions? thank you great thanks for your attention thank you