CCRPC outlines Act 181 timetable, new regional land‑use mapping and housing targets

Taylor, a CCRPC planning staff member, gave a 30‑minute briefing on implementing Act 181 and the timing for adopting the agency’s ECOS regional plan.

The commission’s draft ECOS plan work began in 2021; staff delayed adoption in 2024 to expand outreach to underrepresented communities and because Act 181 added statutory requirements, Taylor said. Act 181 requires RPCs to produce a new regional future land‑use map using a uniform set of 11 land‑use categories, to map environmental‑justice‑focused populations and to coordinate municipal housing targets. Taylor said the CCRPC expects to post a revised, public draft of the future land‑use map and municipal housing targets in March 2025 and aims to complete the regional plan adoption process by May 2026, subject to the Land Use Review Board review and the statutorily required notice periods.

The memo and presentation stressed several new steps and constraints. The state’s recently created Land Use Review Board (LURB) must receive a 60‑day notice before formal hearings so it can comment on draft regional plans, Taylor said. The statutory requirement that all regions use the same 11 land‑use categories represents a significant change from prior practice and is intended to let the state compare maps “apples to apples,” Taylor said. Staff are developing a benefits‑and‑burdens methodology to measure how the new map will affect environmental justice populations, which the statute defines by thresholds for income, limited English proficiency and BIPOC share of residents.

Municipal reaction at planning‑commission meetings and in the boardroom was mixed. Taylor said staff have met with municipal staff and planning commissions in all 19 Chittenden County municipalities and will implement locally tailored engagement plans that typically include two to five events per municipality. Several board members urged clarity on how draft categories map to local zoning.

Board member Garrett, who represents an unincorporated gore, asked that the commission ensure small unincorporated places are not assumed to be represented by VTrans; he said state agency contact has in the past been slow. Jeff, a board member who also served on the CCRPC subcommittee on housing targets, said the lower bound housing figure shown in the housing needs appendix (described in the meeting) — “about 15,000” units over the planning period (roughly 600 units per year) — is within reach of what the region already has in the pipeline. He warned, however, that a higher target scenario cited in the report (the document lists a high estimate around 47,407) would be far beyond recent building rates.

Taylor and other staff emphasized that the numerical targets are primarily an informational policy tool for the legislature and for local planning: “There’s no stick so far,” Taylor said, meaning the statute does not immediately impose penalties for missing the targets. Board members raised practical constraints: wastewater, water and other infrastructure vary by municipality and are often the limiting factor on where and how quickly housing can be added; workforce shortages to build housing and infrastructure were also noted.

Staff outlined next steps: finalize a public second draft of the regional future land‑use map and municipal housing targets in March 2025; complete municipal engagement through May; work with planning commissions to seek municipal consensus on mapped centers and Tier 1B opt‑ins; present a staff recommendation to the Long Range Planning Committee (LRPC) and to the board; then begin formal public‑hearing and adoption steps in fall 2025 and early 2026 with LURB review.

Taylor said staff will also assemble a small working group of municipal staff to clarify statutory uncertainties that municipalities raised about Tier 1A obligations, archaeological and natural‑resource review triggers and municipal regulatory capacity.

The board did not take formal action on the map or the targets at the meeting; staff asked commissioners to expect outreach materials and event listings on the CCRPC website and said they would circulate materials to municipal Slack channels next week.