Chittenden County’s draft ECOS plan aims to concentrate housing in compact centers, staff say

The Chittenden County Regional Planning Commission on Monday presented its draft ECOS regional plan and future land‑use map to the Land Use Review Board, saying the plan aims to place most new housing where infrastructure already exists. Charlie Baker, CCRPC executive director, told the board the draft seeks to direct residential growth toward planned growth areas and infill sites rather than to expand development across the county.

The presentation framed ECOS — which staff said stands for "environment, community, opportunity and sustainability" — as four plans in one: a regional plan, a comprehensive economic development strategy, a metropolitan transportation plan and an enhanced energy plan. Taylor Newton and Kate McCarthy described seven supplements to the base plan, including a new environmental benefits and burdens analysis and a supplement documenting how the plan’s municipal housing targets were calculated.

Why it matters: the plan assigns regional housing targets and then disaggregates them to towns. Staff told the board the county’s middle housing target for 2050 would be roughly 31,000–32,000 housing units, with a low range of about 15,000–16,000 and a high range near 47,000 units. Those targets, staff said, come from the state and are intended to shape municipal planning and infrastructure investments.

Method and engagement: Kate McCarthy described a two‑phase outreach program that included targeted work with cultural liaisons and translated focus groups for people who do not speak English, a countywide survey, tabling at local events, 140–150 municipal and stakeholder meetings and an interactive online map where people dropped pins and left comments. "We got 238 of those comments from 58 people," McCarthy said, summarizing online engagement.

Staff also explained the approach to assigning housing targets. Rather than a capacity analysis, the committee considered municipal type, infrastructure availability, historic growth rates and local goals and then weighted targets accordingly. Baker and Newton said CCRPC assigned 60% of the regional housing target to four cities — Burlington, Essex Junction, South Burlington and Winooski — because those municipalities have concentrated water, wastewater and transit infrastructure.

Mapping rules and constraints: presenters outlined how future land‑use categories were developed using land‑cover and infrastructure layers. Kate McCarthy explained the team generally did not "smooth" isolated cleared parcels into surrounding categories after testing that approach and consulting towns, and staff said the draft map reflects many municipalities’ local future land‑use maps. The presentation stressed the plan’s stated aim that about 90% of residential growth occur within planned growth areas.

Numbers and context: Baker emphasized both the county’s economic strength and ongoing disparities. "We have about 12,000 folks living in poverty here," he said during the presentation, noting that county income averages mask concentrated need in some places. Staff also highlighted that much of the county remains conserved or in agricultural/forest use, which shapes where growth can realistically occur.

Next steps: CCRPC staff said the commission will revise the draft based on board comments and public input and return a final application for review after municipal decisions on tier opt‑ins are complete. The board will send formal comments on the pre‑application by the deadline staff announced.

Sources: CCRPC presentation to the Land Use Review Board and public Q&A on the ECOS draft regional plan. The draft plan and associated materials are posted through the Act 181 portal (act181.vermont.gov) and the board’s public record.