January 20: Off to the Races – Week 2 is All About Regulatory Hurdles

The future Tier 1 areas represent existing residential neighborhoods and mixed-use commercial districts served by municipal water and sewer along major state transportation corridors that are generally within regional job sheds. 

This week, Josh and Samantha will offer the same testimony to the House Committee on Agriculture, Food Resiliency, and Forestry – and work to continue consensus building with the related agencies, advocates, and farm groups about how to plan for the next 50 years of local land use planning in a way that supports resilient working lands and more affordable – and available – housing.  

VLCT Advocacy was back before the House Committee on General Affairs and Housing last week, this time to discuss municipal land use regulatory authority, existing local planning and zoning processes, and the Act 250 exemption process, as well as to provide a primer on the use of form-based code in Vermont. This testimony was split between the morning and afternoon and lasted for more than an hour with questions and discussion from committee members seeking to understand the various levers of control available to pro-housing communities.  

Samantha also provided a walk through of the new process for the approval of regional plans and Tier 1 areas before the Land Use Review Board (LURB). Currently three of the eleven future regional plans are in the pre-application stage before the LURB. VLCT is seeking to demonstrate that Act 250 exemption is not a municipal authority – it is a long public process that begins with municipal and regional planning and rests on the final authority of the state body (the LURB) to affirm or deny each municipality’s proposed exempt areas according to statutory constraints. As such, legislative reforms to Act 181 could expedite and improve Tier 1 approval to unlock more of the housing growth Vermont communities want, need, and have planned for.  

The House Committee on General Affairs and Housing is expected to vet a number of forthcoming proposals and bills related to model codes, zoning for the use of off-site manufactured homes, ADA accessibility for housing and lodging, and short-term rental regulation. 

Last week, VLCT Advocacy also joined the Let’s Build Homes coalition in support of their 2026 legislative platform to support new housing development. Let’s Build Homes is aligned with VLCT in seeking solutions to  

Let’s Build Homes has also presented a number of proposals to lower the cost of construction and to provide low-cost capital for home builders.  

Lastly, our partners at the Vermont Bond Bank announced the launch of the Housing Infrastructure Loan Program last week. VLCT Advocacy supported funding for the new program in last year’s housing omnibus law Act 69. The Housing Infrastructure Loan Program supports the creation of housing by lowering the cost of expanding municipally owned water, wastewater, and transportation infrastructure including projects supported by tax increment finance (TIF) and the Community and Housing Infrastructure Program (CHIP). The pilot round will be awarded at the end of March 2025, with quarterly applications and awards starting mid-2026. 

VLCT made a second appearance in the Senate Committee on Government Operations, this time to outline our 2026 Legislative Priorities. Samantha and Josh discussed VLCT’s proposals for new revenue authorities for cannabis, gas, and short-term rentals, outlined our requested modernizing reforms for the Public Records Act (currently being taken up by the house committee), and again raised the issue of municipal liability.  

VLCT is again calling for legislative action to create a monetary liability cap for municipalities commensurate with the State’s cap of $500,000 per person or $2 million per occurrence. While the majority of public services are delivered by municipal government, only state government enjoys this liability protection. The absence of a monetary liability cap for municipalities is affecting the insurability of some critical public infrastructure and imperiling the ability of local government to deliver the public services that Vermonters want and need. Issues of insurability for municipalities have halted plans for skate parks and complicated plow routes, and they could jeopardize accessibility to other public facilities such as swimming pools, sports fields, playgrounds, and pedestrian infrastructure. A liability cap for municipalities will not affect the ability of victims of crime or civil rights violations to pursue compensation for damages.   

Last session, the house introduced bill H.138, an act relating to maximum liability of municipalities for tort claims, cosponsored by House Judiciary chair Martin Lalonde and freshman Representative Ian Goodnow. Goodnow is particularly well positioned to advocate for H.138 as both a practicing attorney and former Selectboard Chair from Brattleboro.  

While H.138 did not receive a hearing last year, VLCT believes that this session the issue of municipal liability is ripe for action. First, because municipal budgets and local taxpayers are under increasing pressure – making the unresolved risk of civil lawsuits less and less tolerable. Second, because a handful of other legislative policy priorities are pushing this issue. The legislature wishes to explore opportunities for intermunicipal collaboration and regionalization and is looking to city and town governments to take on new initiatives such as chloride (road salt) reduction strategies, 3-acre permits, and enhanced emergency planning for dam failure. In each of these scenarios, local governments would be better motivated to do more if their outstanding liabilities were better controlled. 

The issue of municipal liability is niche – if we don’t make a big deal about it, no one else will. If your city or town has explored expanding services or taking on new infrastructure and decided against it for liability reasons, please tell us about it. Email advocacy@vlct.org to join our advocacy efforts to establish a monetary cap for municipal liability.  

The House Energy and Digital Infrastructure Committee has begun the session with bill H.527, a simple one-page act that would extend the current sunset date for 30 V.S.A. § 248a from July 1, 2026, to July 1, 2029. What we call “248a” is the process the Public Utility Commission uses to approve a Certificate of Public Good for any proposed telecommunications projects (aka cell towers). The same law creates “substantial deference,” whereby the PUC must defer to municipal and regional plans in decisions related to the siting of telecommunications facilities.   

VLCT advocacy testified before the committee last Friday in favor of extending the sunset. A guiding principle of VLCT’s 2025-2026 municipal policy is “local discretion to pursue sustainable housing, economic development, recovery, and resiliency, including substantial deference to municipal planning, zoning, and siting decisions.”  

Samantha provided the committee with an overview of municipal land use regulatory authorities and statutory municipal planning processes and discussed the opportunities for municipally led engagement during the 60-day notice period prior to an application for a Certificate of Public Good.  

It is VLCT’s position that substantial deference should be maintained for siting decisions, and that while we are all navigating a multi-years-long implementation of Act 250 reforms is an irrational time to upend the current permitting process for critical telecommunications infrastructure. The committee has heard testimony from citizens advocating to revert permitting from 248a to Act 250, as well as from telecommunications providers in favor of the 248a process. Samantha noted in her testimony that the current draft Tier 3 rule would trigger Act 250 review for utility projects located more than 50 feet from existing transportation facilities (roads and driveways).  

The House Energy and Digital Infrastructure Committee is expected to vote on H.527 later this week, and the bill may or may not take a stop in the House Environmental Committee, which maintains jurisdiction over Act 250.  

The House chamber implemented a pre-session bill request deadline for this year, so we’ve already seen a lot of new pieces of legislation that have been introduced and sent off to committee. So far, 308 new bills have been released for introduction across both chambers. This is in addition to the 574 bills still active from last year. VLCT is already tracking 28 new bills from 2026 with the potential to affect local government. Committee bills may be introduced later and are likely to come for housing, tax changes, public records, and transportation. Here are a few bills we’re tracking:    

Now that the State House doors have opened on the new session, the most important key to our success is your input and participation in VLCT’s advocacy work. Don’t forget to register to attend our Advocacy Chats to learn what mid-session progress has been made on the issues that matter most to local government. There you’ll also hear what your municipal colleagues from around the state have to say about the hot topics and be able to share your concerns for the legislature. You can register here to join us on Monday, January 26 at 1 PM.