Senate takes up H 687, a sweeping land-use and housing bill; long amendment packet reported
May 10, 2024 | SENATE, Committees, Legislative , Vermont
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The Senate took up H 687 (described in debate as community resilience and biodiversity protection through land use, sometimes referenced as Act 50/housing) under a distributed amendment with numerous instances addressing tiered land-use designations, housing opportunities and tax/finance provisions.
Senator Madison and other reporting senators walked the body through 15 instances of amendment. Key elements discussed included: shifting certain rulemaking to a tier-3 process for some natural-resource areas; removing a mandatory requirement for developers to obtain a jurisdictional opinion to establish exemptions from Act 250 (making it optional instead of required); expanding the definition of municipal officials to include volunteer municipal officials; adding Tier 1A guidance tied to public water/wastewater systems and planned improvements; clarifying how parcels are counted toward area boundaries (e.g., at least 21% of a parcel within a quarter-mile), and support for accessory dwelling unit (ADU) standards that ensure independent-living capability.
The amendment package also restored a Senate approach to the property transfer tax: first-dollar relief on the initial $200,000 of a home purchase, and a focused second-home surcharge to recoup revenue (language was reported as intended to target non-primary residences through declaration or landlord/residence status). The amendment included an appropriation — $6,100,000 for the Vermont Housing and Conservation Trust Fund — and several provisions addressing municipal timelines for administrative review and appeal thresholds (raising some appeal thresholds from 10 to 20 residents).
Why it matters: H 687 is a comprehensive land-use and housing package that attempts to balance increased housing capacity in growth areas with conservation protections in higher-value natural-resource areas. The package links land-use designations to infrastructure capacity, municipal review timelines and targeted tax policy intended to preserve affordability and raise revenue for housing initiatives.
The Senate reported concurrence with the House proposal amendment as distributed and ordered the bill forward as the amendment packet was adopted by the body.
Senator Madison and other reporting senators walked the body through 15 instances of amendment. Key elements discussed included: shifting certain rulemaking to a tier-3 process for some natural-resource areas; removing a mandatory requirement for developers to obtain a jurisdictional opinion to establish exemptions from Act 250 (making it optional instead of required); expanding the definition of municipal officials to include volunteer municipal officials; adding Tier 1A guidance tied to public water/wastewater systems and planned improvements; clarifying how parcels are counted toward area boundaries (e.g., at least 21% of a parcel within a quarter-mile), and support for accessory dwelling unit (ADU) standards that ensure independent-living capability.
The amendment package also restored a Senate approach to the property transfer tax: first-dollar relief on the initial $200,000 of a home purchase, and a focused second-home surcharge to recoup revenue (language was reported as intended to target non-primary residences through declaration or landlord/residence status). The amendment included an appropriation — $6,100,000 for the Vermont Housing and Conservation Trust Fund — and several provisions addressing municipal timelines for administrative review and appeal thresholds (raising some appeal thresholds from 10 to 20 residents).
Why it matters: H 687 is a comprehensive land-use and housing package that attempts to balance increased housing capacity in growth areas with conservation protections in higher-value natural-resource areas. The package links land-use designations to infrastructure capacity, municipal review timelines and targeted tax policy intended to preserve affordability and raise revenue for housing initiatives.
The Senate reported concurrence with the House proposal amendment as distributed and ordered the bill forward as the amendment packet was adopted by the body.
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