Regional planning commission urges infrastructure investment, brownfields cleanup and streamlined appeals to speed housing

Peter Gregory, executive director of the Two Rivers-Ottauquechee Regional Commission, told the House Committee on General & Housing on Jan. 15 that regional planning commissions (RPCs) are working with towns and nonprofits to raise awareness, update bylaws and support housing projects, but need state investments in infrastructure, brownfields cleanup and staffing to move projects forward.

Gregory, whose commission serves about 30 towns and is headquartered in Woodstock, said RPCs play roles in local and regional planning, bylaw updates, participation in regulatory proceedings and ‘‘visualization’’ work that helps towns see how incremental infill can fit into village centers. He said recent legislative changes, including Act 250 exemptions for certain housing, have helped but that more remains to be done.

The nut graf: Gregory argued that permitting timelines at the Agency of Natural Resources and the Division for Historic Preservation should be reviewed for staffing and timelines, that brownfields assessment and cleanup funding — including federal EPA discretionary dollars his RPC secured — remain essential, and that water and sewer infrastructure investment is a bottleneck for denser downtown development.

Gregory said the RPCs have “brought in 1,000,000 of federal discretionary dollars directly from EPA” and that the state has supplemented those federal funds for assessment and remediation. He told lawmakers that brownfields cleanup enables housing and commercial development in downtowns and supports job creation.

On statutory and process changes, Gregory suggested smoothing the local bylaw adoption process where state law already requires updates, and recommended examining appeals processes under Act 250 and local zoning to discourage unsuccessful appeals by imposing costs on unsuccessful appellants. He said appeals currently create significant delays, and he proposed policy fixes to make appeals “less palatable for those that appeal, by putting some costs back on those that appeal if they are unsuccessful.”

Gregory also urged the committee to consider tax-policy tools (such as sales-tax exemptions for affordable housing projects) and to support shared services and capacity-building for towns that lack planning staff. He said the RPCs meet monthly, share best practices, and sometimes staff towns on a temporary basis when local administrators resign.

Ending: Gregory offered to provide written detail and follow-up materials to the committee and to share the independent study of RPCs required by Act 181 when it is released; committee members asked him to provide the report to the committee when available.