Title 10, Title 10: Conservation and Development

§ 6003. Penalties A violation of any provision of this chapter or the rules adopted under this chapter is punishable by a fine of not more than $500.00 for each day of the violation or imprisonment for not more than two years, or both. A person who completely transfers ownership …

§ 6007. Act 250 Disclosure Statement; jurisdictional determination (a) Prior to the division or partition of land, the seller or other person dividing or partitioning the land shall prepare an “Act 250 Disclosure Statement.” A person who is dividing or partitioning land, but is n…

§ 6021. Board; vacancy; removal (a) Board established. The Land Use Review Board is created. (1) The Board shall consist of five members appointed by the Governor after review and approval by the Land Use Review Board Nominating Committee in accordance with subdivision (2) of thi…

§ 6022. Personnel (a) 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 Commission…

§ 6023. Grants The Board may apply for and receive grants from the federal government and from other sources. (Added 1969, No. 250 (Adj. Sess.), § 4, eff. April 4, 1970.)

§ 6024. Intragovernmental cooperation Other departments and agencies of State government shall cooperate with the Board and make available to it data, facilities, and personnel as may be needed to assist the Board in carrying out its duties and functions. There shall be establish…

§ 6025. Rules (a) The Board may adopt rules of procedure for itself and the District Commissions. The Board’s procedure for approving regional plans and regional plan maps, which may be adopted as rules or issued as guidance, shall ensure that the maps are consistent with legisla…

§ 6026. District Commissioners (a) For the purposes of the administration of this chapter, the State is divided into nine districts. (1) District No. 1, comprising administrative district 1 as provided in 3 V.S.A. § 4001. (2) District No. 2, comprising administrative district 2 a…

§ 6027. Powers (a) The Board and District Commissions shall have supervisory authority in environmental matters respecting projects within their jurisdiction and shall apply their independent judgment in determining facts and interpreting law. Each shall have the power, with resp…

§ 6028. Compensation Members of the Board and District Commissions shall receive per diem pay and all necessary and actual expenses in accordance with 32 V.S.A. § 1010. (Added 1969, No. 250 (Adj. Sess.), § 31, eff. April 4, 1970; amended 1993, No. 82, § 3.)

§ 6029. Act 250 Permit Fund There is hereby established a special fund to be known as the Act 250 Permit Fund for the purposes of implementing the provisions of this chapter. Revenues to the fund shall be those fees collected in accordance with section 6083a of this title, gifts,…

§ 6030. Map of wireless telecommunications facilities The Board shall maintain a map that shows the location of all wireless telecommunications facilities in the State. (Added 1997, No. 94 (Adj. Sess.), § 1, eff. April 15, 1998.)

§ 6031. Ethical standards (a) The Chair and members of the Board and the Chair and members of each District Commission shall comply with the following ethical standards: (1) The provisions of 12 V.S.A. § 61 (disqualification for interest). (2) The Chair and each member shall cond…

§ 6032. Land Use Review Board Nominating Committee (a) Creation. The Land Use Review Board Nominating Committee is created for the purpose of assessing the qualifications of applicants for appointment to the Land Use Review Board in accordance with section 6021 of this title. (b)…

§ 6033. Regional plan future land use map review (a) The Board shall review requests from regional planning commissions to approve or disapprove portions of future land use maps for the purposes of changing jurisdictional thresholds under this chapter by identifying areas on futu…

§ 6034. Tier 1A area status (a) Application and approval. (1) Beginning on January 1, 2026, a municipality, by resolution of its legislative body, may apply to the Land Use Review Board for Tier 1A status for the area of the municipality that is suitable for dense development and…

§ 6042. Capability and Development Plan The Board shall adopt a Capability and Development Plan consistent with the Interim Land Capability Plan that shall be made with the general purpose of guiding and accomplishing a coordinated, efficient, and economic development of the Stat…

§ 6044. Public hearings (a) The Board shall hold public hearings for the purpose of collecting information to be used in establishing the Capability and Development Plan and Interim Land Capability Plan. The public hearings may be held in an appropriate area or areas of the State…

§ 6046. Approval of Governor and Legislature (a) Upon approval of a Capability and Development or Interim Land Capability Plan by the Board, it shall submit the plan to the Governor for approval. The Governor shall approve the Plan, or disapprove the Plan or any portion of a Plan…

§ 6047. Changes in the Capability and Development Plan (a) After final adoption, any department or agency of the State or a municipality, or any property owner or lessee may petition the Board for a change in the Capability and Development Plan. (b) Within 14 days of receipt, the…

§ 6081. Permits required; exemptions (a) No person shall sell or offer for sale any interest in any subdivision located in this State, or commence construction on a subdivision or development, or commence development without a permit. This section shall not prohibit the sale, mor…

§ 6082. Approval by local governments and State agencies The permit required under section 6081 of this title shall not supersede or replace the requirements for a permit of any other State agency or municipal government. (1969, No. 250 (Adj. Sess.), § 27, eff. April 4, 1970.)

§ 6083. Applications (a) An application for a permit shall be filed with the District Commission as prescribed by the rules of the Board and shall contain at least the following documents and information: (1) The applicant’s name, address, and the address of each of the applicant…

§ 6083a. Act 250 fees (a) All applicants for a land use permit under section 6086 of this title shall be directly responsible for the costs involved in the publication of notice in a newspaper of general circulation in the area of the proposed development or subdivision and the c…

§ 6084. Notice of application; hearings; commencement of review (a) Upon the filing of an application with the District Commission, the District Commission shall send, by electronic means, notice of the application to the owner of the land if the applicant is not the owner; the m…

§ 6085. Hearings; party status (a), (b) [Repealed.] (c)(1) Party status. In proceedings before the District Commissions, the following persons shall be entitled to party status: (A) the applicant; (B) the landowner, if the applicant is not the landowner; (C) the municipality in w…

§ 6086. Issuance of permit; conditions and criteria. (a) Before granting a permit, the District Commission shall find that the subdivision or development: (1) Will not result in undue water or air pollution. In making this determination it shall at least consider: the elevation o…

§ 6086a. Generators of radioactive waste No land use permit will be issued for a development which generates low-level radioactive waste unless it shows that it will have access to a low-level radioactive waste disposal facility and that the facility is expected to have sufficien…

§ 6086b. Downtown development; findings; master plan permits (a) Findings and conclusions. Notwithstanding any provision of this chapter to the contrary, each of the following shall apply to a development or subdivision that is completely within a downtown development district de…

§ 6087. Denial of application (a) No application shall be denied by the District Commission unless it finds the proposed subdivision or development detrimental to the public health, safety, or general welfare. (b) A permit may not be denied solely for the reasons set forth in sub…

§ 6088. Burden of proof (a) The burden shall be on the applicant with respect to subdivisions 6086(a)(1), (2), (3), (4), (9), and (10) of this title. (b) The burden shall be on any party opposing the applicant with respect to subdivisions 6086(a)(5) through (8) of this title to s…

§ 6089. Appeals Appeals of any act or decision of a District Commission under this chapter or a district coordinator under subsection 6007(c) of this title shall be made to the Environmental Division in accordance with chapter 220 of this title. For the purpose of this section, a…

§ 6090. Recording; duration and revocation of permits (a) In order to afford adequate notice of the terms and conditions of land use permits, permit amendments and revocations of permits, they shall be recorded in local land records. Recordings under this chapter shall be indexed…

§ 6091. Renewals and nonuse (a) Renewal. At the expiration of each permit, it may be renewed under the same procedure herein specified for an original application. (b) Nonuse of permit. Nonuse of a permit for a period of three years following the date of issuance shall constitute…

§ 6092. Construction In the event that the federal government preempts part of the activity regulated by this chapter, this chapter shall be construed to regulate activity that has not been preempted. (Added 1979, No. 123 (Adj. Sess.), § 7, eff. April 14, 1980.)

§ 6093. Mitigation of primary agricultural soils (a) Mitigation for loss of primary agricultural soils. Suitable mitigation for the conversion of primary agricultural soils necessary to satisfy subdivision 6086(a)(9)(B)(iv) of this title shall depend on where the project tract is…

§ 6101. Purpose The purpose of this subchapter is to provide a mechanism to allocate the costs to mitigate the impacts of land use projects to the transportation system in a manner that is equitable and that supports the planning goals of 24 V.S.A. § 4302. (Added 2013, No. 145 (A…

§ 6102. Definitions As used in this subchapter: (1) “Agency” means the Agency of Transportation. (2) “Capacity” means each of the following: (A) the number of vehicles per hour accommodated by transportation infrastructure; (B) the ability of transportation infrastructure to prov…

§ 6103. Authority A District Commission or the Agency may assess a transportation impact fee in accordance with this subchapter. (Added 2013, No. 145 (Adj. Sess.), § 2.)

§ 6104. Transportation impact fee; District Commission (a) A District Commission may require payment of a transportation impact fee in accordance with section 6106 of this title to fund, in whole or in part, capital improvements that are necessary to mitigate the transportation i…

§ 6105. Transportation Improvement District and fee; Agency of Transportation (a) The Secretary may establish a TID and transportation impact fee in accordance with this section and section 6106 of this title if one or more capital transportation projects in the most recent Capit…

§ 6106. Transportation impact fee; formula (a) When assessing a transportation impact fee to a land use project, the Secretary shall apply a formula that reflects the performance standards for the TID, and the District Commission shall apply a formula that reflects those performa…

§ 6107. Transportation Improvement District Fund (a) There is created a special fund within the Transportation Fund known as the Transportation Improvement District Fund. The Agency shall deposit into the District Fund each transportation impact fee it receives under this subchap…

§ 6108. Payment of fees (a) An applicant shall pay a transportation impact fee assessed under this subchapter to the Agency, except that a District Commission may direct an applicant to pay a transportation impact fee to a municipality if the impacts of the applicant’s developmen…

§ 6109. Unspent fee amounts; refunds Within 15 years from the date of payment, a fee assessed under this subchapter shall be spent on the capital transportation project or projects in the appropriate TID or on the appropriate capital transportation project for which the fee was p…

§ 6110. Appeals (a) A person aggrieved by a decision of the Secretary regarding the establishment of a TID or the transportation impact fee for the TID may appeal to the Civil Division of the Superior Court under Rule 74 of the Vermont Rules of Civil Procedure. (b) A permit issue…