The Rutland Regional Planning Commission’s Executive Finance Committee was told Monday that phase three of public engagement for the regional plan is complete and the commission expects to enter a formal review period with the state land use review board.
The commission’s executive director said the staff completed three engagement phases and will prepare a large report showing how the plan achieved meaningful public engagement. “This, as you all know, was all 3 phases were an insane amount of effort, and I'm really proud of them,” the executive director said. “I think we've now we are the gold standard for how you do engagement with regional plans, and now it's in statute.”
Committee members were told the planning team is finishing a final drafting revision (task 4 rev 1) this week; that draft will begin a three-week review and then go to the land use review board for a 60-day agency review. The executive director said the team expects to return an updated draft to the board in September in full layout and that the statewide review process will include agency comments the land use review board must address before the commission receives the final review package.
The commission reported extensive town-level outreach for the future land use map — “there were, like, 35, 40 meetings” — and that the digital draft should be available to board members the following week. The timeline presented calls for a public hearing warning on Dec. 19, a first round of public hearings beginning Jan. 20, and further hearings through April, culminating in a final board vote in April. The executive director said, based on feedback so far, she does not expect a last-minute hold-up but offered an additional opportunity for the regional committee to review the draft next week.
The committee also heard a brief description of the land use review board: members are appointed by the governor and include former planners and a land use attorney. The executive director said rulemaking for plan review criteria is underway and that tiers and other rules will be reported to the board as they are finalized.
Discussion: committee members asked how the public hearing and review processes work and whether the commission would present to the land use review board; the executive director said the board will conduct the review and that the commission may give a short presentation but the land use review board will coordinate agency distribution and comment.
No formal action was taken at Monday’s meeting on the plan; the committee was invited to review the upcoming draft and to send comments as requested by staff.