Land Use Review Board says open‑meeting rules are straining its ability to complete Act 181 tasks

The Land Use Review Board told the Vermont Senate Government Operations Committee on Feb. 11 that recent reforms to Act 250 under Act 181 have given the new board wide, full‑time duties while open‑meeting requirements are limiting the ways members can collaborate between public sessions.

Peter Gill, executive director for the Land Use Review Board (formerly part of the Natural Resources Board), said Act 250 is “a permitting system throughout the state that looks at development and subdivisions and puts them through a rigorous 32 different criteria,” and that Act 181 both reorganized the board and added duties. He told senators the board now issues about 350 to 400 land use permits a year, roughly 5% of those go through the major process, and “about 0.2% of our decisions are denied — that’s roughly one a year, plus or minus.” He also said district coordinators issued about 270 jurisdictional opinions this year and that 1–3% of permitting…