RPC launches town-plan toolkit and sets compressed timeline for regional plan review

At its Jan. 13 meeting the Rutland Regional Planning Commission (RPC) announced a hard launch of a new online town-plan toolkit, details of a VLCT/RPC select-board meetup pilot, and a compressed schedule for review of the RPC’s regional plan draft.

Why it matters: the town-plan toolkit and the accelerated review schedule aim to help municipalities meet updated statutory adoption requirements and to give commissioners and staff more opportunities for focused chapter-level feedback before the plan reaches formal adoption steps later in 2025.

Staff described the town-plan toolkit as a new web resource under the RPC’s town planning program that consolidates guidance on preparing, engaging the public and adopting town plans, including checklists that align required planning elements with page numbers for easier verification during local adoption. The toolkit was credited to Logan Solomon, identified in the meeting as the RPC’s town planner, and staff said the toolkit will be the subject of a hard launch this month after a soft launch in December. Staff encouraged commissioners to share the resource with local planning commissions and noted the toolkit includes an implementation table to track plan actions over an eight-year horizon.

Separately, staff said the Rutland region will pilot a select-board meetup in partnership with the Vermont League of Cities and Towns (VLCT). The first meetup will be held Thursday at 5:30 p.m. at the West Rutland Town Hall and is intended as an informal, in-person opportunity for neighboring select-board members to meet and discuss common issues.

On the regional plan update, staff told commissioners they will finish drafting "task 3, rev 1" and open a condensed review period: a one-month review window beginning Jan. 28 and running through Feb. 21 (presentation said review materials would be distributed on Jan. 22), with five scheduled sessions covering two chapters each. The packet and staff presentation emphasized that statutory changes (cited in the meeting as the requirement for ‘‘widespread citizen involvement and meaningful participation’’ under 3 V.S.A. § 6002) are tightening adoption timelines and expectations, prompting the accelerated schedule. Staff also described a plan for structured review forms that align with chapter sections (introduction, current conditions, future trends, policies, statutory requirements) to make feedback more actionable for drafters.

Staff said the regional plan committee will continue work on defining "determination of regional significance" for projects that should be evaluated at the regional scale rather than solely at the municipal level. The future land-use map draft is complete and staff are scheduling town-level review meetings with planning commissions and select boards from January through June. Commissioners were assigned chapters for in-depth review, with staff requesting broad familiarity with all chapters and deeper review of assigned chapters.

Other items noted at the meeting: the RPC is participating in a three-year partnership with the Vermont Bond Bank to provide municipal water-system analysis and technical assistance for roughly a dozen public water systems in the region; staff flagged that water-system capacity is a critical issue tied to Act 250 and housing development. Staff also listed ongoing grant and project work (brownfields, QISP, MTAP agreements, hazard mitigation plan invoices) and said some project funds remain in development phases pending DEC guidance on issues such as gully erosion; staff noted RPCs and VAPTA had sent a formal memo to the DEC commissioner and ANR secretary requesting guidance and that, as stated in the meeting, the DEC has 60 days after a formal request to develop guidance (described verbally by staff as a statutory deadline).

Next steps: staff will send the review packet and the new review form on Jan. 22; review sessions are slated for the five scheduled dates between Jan. 28 and Feb. 21. Staff asked commissioners to attend in person when possible and to provide in-depth feedback on their assigned chapters; planners will be available during the latter portion of each review session for direct Q&A with commissioners.