Senate briefing outlines tiered Act 250 reforms, interim housing exemptions and regional mapping process

Unidentified Speaker 3, a presenter, told the Senate the package combines two bills, F-311 and H-687, into a negotiated set of amendments intended to “balance the original intent of actually getting a compact village settlement, a good fit, and to keep our working landscape and our conserved areas.”

The proposal would rewrite how Act 250 applies by creating a tiered system of land categories. Unidentified Speaker 4, a presenter, described Tier 1a as areas that could receive full exemptions from Act 250 if they have adopted zoning and public water and wastewater systems and demonstrate protections for rare, threatened or endangered species. Tier 1b would cover mapped village areas where developments of up to 49 units would not trigger Act 250 review. Tier 2 would leave Act 250 review in place, and Tier 3 would identify “critical…