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Rutland RPC begins intensive review of full rewrite of regional plan, asks commissioners for chapter-by-chapter feedback
Summary
The Rutland Regional Planning Commission on Jan. 21 asked commissioners to complete a structured review of Task 3, Rev. 1 of its regional plan rewrite and outlined a compressed schedule that targets an Oct. 3 submittal to the Land Use Review Board.
The Rutland Regional Planning Commission on Jan. 21 asked commissioners to complete a structured review of the working drafts for Task 3, Rev. 1 of the regional plan and described a tightened timetable that aims to submit the plan to the Land Use Review Board by Oct. 3, 2025.
Devin Yer, executive director, said commissioners would receive PDFs of 10 chapter drafts and a link to a SurveyMonkey form “tomorrow” and that staff expect board review to be completed in time for discussion at the commission’s Feb. 18 meeting. “The intent is to have you complete this review before our February board meeting so that we can come back and talk about those comments in February,” Yer said.
Stephanie Burke, staff lead on the plan update, explained that Task 3, Rev. 1 is a full rewrite of the regional plan and that the drafting phase had been divided into tasks and short revision cycles. She told commissioners the plan structure for each topical chapter: a brief introduction, a “healthy, equitable, resilient communities” statement, current conditions, future trends, and a final policies-and-actions section linking recommendations back to the evidence in earlier sections. She emphasized that actions should be realistic items RRPC will undertake and that policies should be supported by data.
Burke noted a new procedural step in the adoption timeline: a required submittal to the Land Use Review Board (LURB) that replaced the former Natural Resources Board, which will have 60 days to provide feedback. “We wanted to make sure that we had that feedback prior to release of the plan for the first hearing,” Burke said. She and Yer said a target of Oct. 3, 2025, for the LURB submittal is firm given the compressed schedule for adoption, which the commission anticipates running from December 2025 through May 2026.
Staff described the review mechanics: commissioners will use an online form that mirrors chapter structure and asks reviewers to indicate agreement/disagreement on introduction, equity/resilience framing, current conditions, future trends, policies/actions, cohesiveness, statutory compliance, and graphical support. Burke said the online approach was chosen to allow staff to collate and hand authors an analyzable dataset rather than hundreds of disparate written comments.
Key deadlines staff outlined: - Commissioners receive chapter PDFs and the review form on Jan. 22. - Complete reviews in time for discussion at the Feb. 18 board meeting. - Task 3, Rev. 2 drafting begins Feb. 24; Rev. 3 begins March 31. - Staff expect to submit content to the graphic designer by May 1 and to present a laid-out draft at the June 17 board meeting. The plan aims to be 90% complete by June 2025.
Burke asked commissioners to focus their reviews on the planning content and refrain from comprehensive editing, noting the commission will contract professional editing later in the schedule. She also reminded the board that chapter reviewers do not need to evaluate final graphics at this stage because reviewers will receive raw text rather than the fully laid-out pages.
The commission did not take a formal vote on the plan at the Jan. 21 meeting; staff launched the internal review process and set expectations for participation and timing.
