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Lawmakers debate separate universal-design study, push to codify accessible housing standards (H.479)
Summary
Representative Elizabeth Burrows and housing officials asked the committee to create a standalone universal-design study to define state accessibility standards for housing; witnesses and some senators urged separate committees for architectural standards and services for people with intellectual and developmental disabilities.
Representative Elizabeth Burrows (chief author of section 4 of H.479) told the Senate committee on May 6 that Vermont lacks a statutorily defined set of universal-design features for housing and asked lawmakers to create a study committee to recommend statewide standards.
"For the record, my name is Elizabeth Burrows, and I represent Whizzer 1," Burrows said, describing how more than 80% of Vermont’s unhoused population has a physical disability and why the state needs a clear list of accessibility features before adopting statewide building codes. "We just need to decide as a state what we what exactly we want," she said.
Why it matters: Burrows and supporters argued that codifying universal-design elements in statute would make accessible features permanent and would allow the state to align building codes, funding programs and developer incentives. Supporters framed the work as a precursor to statewide building-code decisions that will affect housing affordability and…
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