South Burlington outlines Tier 1A application, enforcement and timeline

At the Jan. 14 Planning Advisory Committee meeting, Paul Conner said the City of South Burlington has direction from its City Council to proceed with a Tier 1A application to the Land Use Review Board (LURB) once the regional plan is adopted and approved. He explained Tier 1A requires a municipality to apply directly to LURB, whereas Tier 1B status is automatic for municipalities that opt in after regional plan passage and approval.

Conner said the city reviewed how regional future land use categories relate to Act 250 exemptions and worked to preserve interim exemptions that run along certain transit corridors; those interim exemptions expire in 2027–2028 and were enabled under Act 181. He said South Burlington has updated land development regulations to comply with the HOME Act (Act 47) and Act 181, and that the city redrew water and sewer service areas to align with zoning and establish clear planned service areas.

“The city has been primed for this conversation, having thought about different options over the years for streamlining permitting locally,” Conner said, summarizing the city’s approach to meeting Tier 1A standards.

Conner and staff are also inventorying where local development review has implicitly relied on Act 250 — for example, by lacking thresholds for when a traffic study is required and instead receiving studies as part of Act 250 filings. He said a Tier 1A application also requires the municipality to show how it will take on enforcement of existing Act 250 conditions; South Burlington has been examining administration and enforcement procedures to meet that responsibility.

Taylor Newton, Planning Program Manager, noted the LURB appears open to a statutory approach in which the District Commission would retain enforcement of existing permits while municipalities assume enforcement responsibility when projects seek municipal amendments.

Conner reported that South Burlington has about 1,300 Act 250 permits in the LURB database, with roughly 200–250 permits tied to a small set of large properties. He said the city has mapped relevant permits and, depending on statutory timeframes, estimates a five- to six-month process to obtain Tier 1A approval.

Committee members questioned staffing and fee implications. Chris Yuen asked whether the city had assessed potential fee impacts and whether additional staff time would be required. Conner said the city expects extra work for permit review and enforcement, is considering development-review software to increase efficiency, and is discussing with City Council how to capture expenses related to added workload; he added that applicants exempted from Act 250 could see savings on Act 250 fees.

Conner said he is working with eight municipalities across four counties interested in Tier 1A and that many peer communities are leaning toward applying for Tier 1A for all eligible areas rather than only segments; internal staff capacity and data quality remain concerns. He offered to be a resource for other communities and said the PAC presentation will be posted on the PAC website.

Next procedural steps include finalizing the municipal application materials and coordinating with the regional plan adoption timeline.