Rutland Town planning commission to ask Select Board for guidance on outdated subdivision ordinance

The Rutland Town Planning Commission will ask the Select Board for guidance after a June 19 discussion that found the town’s subdivision ordinance is outdated and likely does not meet current legal requirements, members said. Attorney Kevin Brown is scheduled to present an analysis to the Select Board at 5:30 p.m. on July 1.

Commissioners said the existing subdivision ordinance has provisions that predate modern enabling statutes and that portions ‘‘do not pass legal muster.’’ Barbara (Planning Commissioner) said the commission would prefer ‘‘to have a working ordinance’’ rather than continue using an obsolete document. The commission has spent about two years revising the ordinance and expects Kevin Brown to explain, section by section, where the ordinance falls short.

Why it matters: Commissioners said the town’s limited regulatory authority — the commission exercises review only over subdivisions because Rutland Town does not have zoning — leaves the town with fewer tools to shape development. Several commissioners noted that state land‑use law commonly referred to as Act 250 applies at different project sizes depending on whether a municipality has zoning; with zoning, an Act 250 threshold can shift from one acre to 10 acres, affecting review and approvals.

Commissioners described the revision process in detail: they spent roughly nine months drafting an updated ordinance before external review; Kevin returned a formal letter that analyzes the ordinance section by section (the commission said Kevin’s letter is about 18 pages). Commissioners estimated the full effort has run more than 21 months. The town attorney (as described in the meeting) and Kevin identified specific sections that are outdated, some inserted over the years that overlap with zoning language the town does not have authority to impose.

There was no formal vote on new regulations at the June 19 meeting. The planning commission’s next steps are to have Kevin present his analysis to the Select Board on July 1; commissioners expect the Select Board to ask questions and likely schedule further public discussion. Several commissioners said they do not want to invest more staff and commissioner time reworking ordinances without clear Select Board support. Barbara said the letter from Kevin, which analyzes the ordinance line by line, will help new members understand where the ordinance currently fails to comply with state requirements.

The commission discussed the idea of unified development bylaws that would combine subdivision rules and zoning into a single document; members said that approach may be raised again as a solution when Kevin briefs the Select Board. No action adopting zoning or bylaws was taken at the June 19 meeting.