Title 24, Municipal and County Government

§ 4411. Zoning bylaws (a) A municipality may regulate land development in conformance with its adopted municipal plan and for the purposes set forth in section 4302 of this title to govern the use of land and the placement, spacing, and size of structures and other factors specif…

§ 4412. Required provisions and prohibited effects Notwithstanding any existing bylaw, the following land development provisions shall apply in every municipality: (1) Equal treatment of housing and required provisions for affordable housing. (A) No bylaw nor its application by a…

§ 4413. Limitations on municipal bylaws (a)(1) The following uses may be regulated only with respect to location, size, height, building bulk, yards, courts, setbacks, density of buildings, off-street parking, loading facilities, traffic, noise, lighting, landscaping, and screeni…

§ 4414. Zoning; permissible types of regulations Any of the following types of regulations may be adopted by a municipality in its bylaws in conformance with the plan and for the purposes established in section 4302 of this title. (1) Zoning districts. A municipality may define d…

§ 4414a. Cannabis cultivation district A municipality, after consultation with the municipal cannabis control commission, if one exists, may adopt a bylaw identifying cannabis cultivation districts where the outdoor cultivation of cannabis is preferred within the municipality. Cu…

§ 4415. Interim bylaws (a) If a municipality is conducting or has taken action to conduct studies, or has held or is holding a hearing for the purpose of considering a bylaw, a comprehensive plan, or an amendment, extension, or addition to a bylaw or plan, the legislative body ma…

§ 4416. Site plan review (a) As prerequisite to the approval of any use other than one- and two-family dwellings, the approval of site plans by the appropriate municipal panel may be required, under procedures set forth in subchapter 10 of this chapter. In reviewing site plans, t…

§ 4417. Planned unit development (a) Any municipality adopting a bylaw should provide for planned unit developments to permit flexibility in the application of land development regulations for the purposes of section 4302 of this title and in conformance with the municipal plan. …

§ 4418. Subdivision bylaws In order to guide community settlement patterns and to ensure the efficient extension of services, utilities, and facilities as land is developed, a municipality may regulate the division of a lot or parcel of land into two or more lots or other divisio…

§ 4419. Unified development bylaws (a) Any bylaws authorized under this chapter may be integrated into a unified land development bylaw that combines the separate requirements into a consolidated review and permitting process. At a minimum, unified development bylaws shall consol…

§ 4420. Local Act 250 review of municipal impacts (a) This section shall apply to any municipality in which all of the following have taken place, either at the direction of the legislative body or pursuant to a vote of the municipality’s voters at a duly warned municipal meeting…

§ 4421. Official map A municipality may adopt an official map that identifies future municipal utility and facility improvements, such as road or recreational path rights-of-way, parkland, utility rights-of-way, and other public improvements, in order to provide the opportunity f…

§ 4422. Adequate public facilities; phasing Development may be phased or limited under a bylaw to avoid or mitigate any undue adverse impact on existing or planned community facilities or services. Where a capital budget and program has been adopted, the bylaw may limit or phase …

§ 4423. Transfer of development rights (a) In order to accomplish the purposes of 10 V.S.A. § 6301, bylaws may contain provisions for the transfer of development rights. The bylaws shall do all the following: (1) Specify one or more sending areas for which development rights may …

§ 4424. Shorelands; flood or hazard area; special or freestanding bylaws [Effective January 1, 2028; see also version effective until January 1, 2028 set out above] (a) Bylaws; flood and other hazard areas. Any municipality may adopt freestanding bylaws under this chapter to addr…

§ 4427. Persons eligible to apply for permits Municipalities and solid waste management districts empowered to condemn property or an interest in property may apply for any permit required by any zoning regulation adopted under this chapter. (Added 1991, No. 109, § 5, eff. June 2…

§ 4428. Parking bylaws (a) Parking regulation. Consistent with section 4414 of this title and with this section, a municipality may regulate parking. (b) Parking space size standards. For the purpose of residential parking, a municipality shall define a standard parking space as …

§ 4430. Capital budget and program (a) A capital budget shall list and describe the capital projects to be undertaken during the coming fiscal year, the estimated cost of those projects, and the proposed method of financing. A capital program is a plan of capital projects propose…

§ 4431. Purchase or acceptance of development rights A municipality may develop a program for purchase or acceptance of development rights and stewardship of those rights for the purposes set forth in section 4302 of this title and in conformance with the plan. (Added 2003, No. 1…

§ 4432. Supporting plans A municipality may adopt a plan or plans that support the municipal plan and may incorporate such supporting plan or plans into the municipal plan in the same manner as adoption of the municipal plan set forth in section 4385 of this title. In this event,…

§ 4433. Advisory commissions and committees Municipalities may at any time create one or more advisory commissions, which for the purposes of this chapter include committees, or a combination of advisory commissions to assist the legislative body or the planning commission in pre…

§ 4440. Administration; finance (a) Appropriations may be made by any municipality to finance the work of planning commissions, regional planning commissions, administrative officers, appropriate municipal panels, and other officials in the preparation, adoption, administration, …

§ 4441. Preparation of bylaws and regulatory tools; amendment or repeal (a) A municipality may have one or more bylaws. Any bylaw for a municipality shall be prepared by or at the direction of the planning commission of the municipality and shall have the purpose of implementing …

§ 4442. Adoption of bylaws and related regulatory tools; amendment or repeal (a) Public hearings. Not less than 15 nor more than 120 days after a proposed bylaw, amendment, or repeal is submitted to the legislative body of a municipality under section 4441 of this title, the legi…

§ 4443. Adoption, amendment, or repeal of capital budget and program (a) Notwithstanding any other provision of this chapter, a capital budget and program may be adopted, amended, or repealed by the legislative body of a municipality following one or more public hearings, upon pu…

§ 4444. Public hearing notice for adoption, amendment, or repeal of bylaw and other regulatory tools (a) Any public notice required for public hearing under this subchapter shall be given not less than 15 days prior to the date of the public hearing by: (1) the publication of the…

§ 4445. Availability and distribution of documents Current copies of plans, bylaws, and capital budgets and programs shall be available to the public during normal business hours in the office of the clerk of any municipality in which those plans, bylaws, or capital budgets or pr…

§ 4446. Bylaws; effect of adoption Within the jurisdiction of any municipality that has adopted any of the bylaws authorized by this chapter, no land development may be undertaken or effected except in conformance with those bylaws. Bylaws authorized by this chapter may specify f…

§ 4447. Clerk’s certificate A certificate of the clerk of a municipality showing the publication, posting, consideration, and adoption or amendment of a plan, bylaw, or capital budget or program shall be presumptive evidence of the facts as they relate to the lawful adoption or a…

§ 4448. Appointment and powers of administrative officer (a) An administrative officer, who may hold any other office in the municipality other than membership in the board of adjustment or development review board, shall be nominated by the planning commission and appointed by t…

§ 4449. Zoning permit, certificate of occupancy, and municipal land use permit (a) Within any municipality in which any bylaws have been adopted: (1) No land development may be commenced within the area affected by the bylaws without a permit issued by the administrative officer.…

§ 4450. Eligibility to apply for permits Municipalities and solid waste management districts empowered to condemn property or an interest in property may apply for any permit or approval required by any bylaws adopted under this chapter. (Added 2003, No. 115 (Adj. Sess.), § 101.)…

§ 4451. Enforcement; penalties (a) Any person who violates any bylaw after it has been adopted under this chapter or who violates a comparable ordinance or regulation adopted under prior enabling laws shall be fined not more than $200.00 for each offense. No action may be brought…

§ 4452. Enforcement; remedies If any street, building, structure, or land is or is proposed to be erected, constructed, reconstructed, altered, converted, maintained, or used in violation of any bylaw adopted under this chapter, the administrative officer shall institute in the n…

§ 4453. Challenges to housing provisions in bylaws The Attorney General or a designee shall investigate when there is a complaint that a bylaw or its manner of administration violates subdivision 4412(1) of this title, relating to equal treatment of housing and adequate provision…

§ 4454. Enforcement; limitations (a) An action, injunction, or other enforcement proceeding relating to the failure to obtain or comply with the terms and conditions of any required municipal land use permit may be instituted under section 1974a, 4451, or 4452 of this title again…

§ 4455. Revocation On petition by the municipality and after notice and opportunity for hearing, the Environmental Division may revoke a municipal land use permit issued under this chapter, including a permit for a telecommunications facility, on a determination that the permitte…

§ 4460. Appropriate municipal panels (a) If a municipality establishes a development review board and appoints members to that board, the development review board in that municipality, until its existence is terminated by act of the legislative body, shall exercise all of the fun…

§ 4461. Development review procedures (a) Meetings. An appropriate municipal panel shall elect its own officers and adopt rules of procedure, subject to this section and other applicable State statutes, and shall adopt rules of ethics with respect to conflicts of interest. Meetin…

§ 4462. Combined review If more than one type of review is required for a project, the reviews, to the extent feasible, shall be conducted concurrently. A process defining the sequence of review and issuance of decisions shall be defined in the bylaw. (Added 2003, No. 115 (Adj. S…

§ 4463. Subdivision review (a) Approval of plats. Before a plat for a major subdivision is approved, a public hearing on the plat shall be held by the appropriate municipal panel after public notice. A bylaw may provide for the administrative officer to approve minor subdivisions…

§ 4464. Hearing and notice requirements; decisions and conditions; administrative review; role of advisory commissions in development review (a) Notice procedures. All development review applications before an appropriate municipal panel under procedures set forth in this chapter…

§ 4465. Appeals of decisions of the administrative officer (a) An interested person may appeal any decision or act taken by the administrative officer in any municipality by filing a notice of appeal with the secretary of the board of adjustment or development review board of tha…

§ 4466. Notice of appeal A notice of appeal shall be in writing and shall include the name and address of the appellant, a brief description of the property with respect to which the appeal is taken, a reference to the regulatory provisions applicable to that appeal, the relief r…

§ 4468. Hearing on appeal The appropriate municipal panel shall set a date and place for a public hearing of an appeal under this chapter that shall be within 60 days of the filing of the notice of appeal under section 4465 of this title. The appropriate municipal panel shall giv…

§ 4469. Appeal; variances (a) On an appeal under section 4465 or 4471 of this title or on a referral under subsection 4460(e) of this title in which a variance from the provisions of a bylaw or interim bylaw is requested for a structure that is not primarily a renewable energy re…