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Vermont fairgrounds urge relief as stormwater '3‑acre' rule and permit delays create multimillion‑dollar costs
Summary
County fair operators told the Senate Agriculture Committee that a state '3‑acre' stormwater rule, permitting backlogs at ANR/DEC and high engineering costs threaten operations — with one large fair estimating a $3.7 million compliance price tag and asking for legislative or administrative fixes.
Representatives of Vermont county fairgrounds told the Senate Agriculture Committee that a state stormwater regulation known informally as the "3‑acre rule" and a backlog of permit reviews at the Agency of Natural Resources (ANR) and Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) are creating urgent financial and timing problems for fairs that host community events and support local agriculture.
"We are really in a conundrum. We are really in a very, very difficult situation where we actually are at an impasse. We are at a point where we can't proceed at this point. We're basically dead," Robert Connan, a Rutland fair representative, said when describing his fair's situation. Connan said an initial feasibility study shows roughly $3.7 million in…
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