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CCRPC advances ECOS Plan after LURB review; staff flag neighborhood-to-center assignment as challenge for Chittenden County
Summary
CCRPC staff told the Planning Advisory Committee the ECOS Plan completed a pilot preapplication review with the Land Use Review Board; about 40 map edits followed and staff warned that an Agency request to assign every neighborhood to a center is difficult in Chittenden County.
Taylor Newton, Planning Program Director for the Chittenden County Regional Planning Commission (CCRPC), updated the Planning Advisory Committee on progress toward adopting the ECOS regional plan and its future land use map.
Newton said CCRPC completed a pilot preapplication review with the Land Use Review Board (LURB). The Long Range Planning Committee recommended the plan and map to the full Board at its March 10 meeting, with the Board expected to review the plan in March and April, warn a second RPC meeting, hold a second public hearing in May, and anticipate adoption in May before final LURB review.
Staff summarized the public comments the plan received, including concerns that housing targets and estimates might be used in exclusionary ways; questions about how forecasts relate to targets; calls for stronger implementation detail; and requests for more attention to passenger rail feasibility, which staff said previous study found not workable for the region at this time.
Newton said LURB comments prompted substantive edits to chapters such as Scenic, Historic, and Recreational Resources and additions describing how the plan advances the state’s conservation goals and educational facility availability, including Career and Technical Education opportunities. Newton also noted roughly 40 map changes between the first and second drafts, with LURB focusing questions on certain corridors, including Shelburne Road and Williston Road.
An Agency of Commerce and Community Development request that RPCs assign each neighborhood to a particular center presents a particular challenge in Chittenden County, Newton said. "The expansive and contiguous neighborhoods in Chittenden County make this more challenging," he told the PAC, and CCRPC expects to engage municipalities in May and June to resolve assignments. Paul Conner, a PAC member representing South Burlington, and others agreed that neighborhoods do not always map one-to-one to centers and that relationships can be more complex.
Newton said a track-changes version of the plan would be posted the following day. The next procedural steps are Board review in March and April, warning of a second public hearing, and a second public hearing in May ahead of anticipated adoption.
