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CCRPC committee reviews 2026 ECOS plan draft, flags housing-target recalculation and data gaps in environmental analysis
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Summary
Planning Advisory Committee members reviewed the draft 2026 ECOS regional plan, which adds Act 181 and HOME Act requirements, updates the regional future land use map and supplements an environmental benefits and burdens analysis; staff said housing-target recalculations produced unexpected results and require more work before final recommendation.
Paul Conner, chair of the Chittenden County Regional Planning Commission Planning Advisory Committee, presided over a Sept. 10 meeting where staff presented the draft 2026 ECOS regional plan and explained next steps for review and adoption. Planning Program Director Taylor Newton said the draft integrates the Metropolitan Transportation Plan and Comprehensive Economic Development Strategy, adds seven supplements and incorporates requirements from Act 181 and the HOME Act.
Newton told the committee the plan’s structure has changed since 2018 to foreground climate change and equity and that staff focused edits on clarifications rather than new policy directions. “There are not major policy shifts, but just clarifications and specificity added (other than Act 181 and HOME Act requirements),” he said.
Staff described changes to the regional Future Land Use (FLU) map, including a decision to prioritize Rural Conservation where parcels are both conserved and enrolled in use-value appraisal, and the addition of a crosshatch overlay showing floodplain and river corridor areas. Newton said the Land Use Review Board (LURB) and the Agency of Commerce and Community Development (ACCD) may raise questions about some map decisions; state agencies such as VTrans and the Agency of Natural Resources will be invited to comment during LURB pre-application review. A LURB public hearing on the plan is scheduled for January 2026.
Newton reported that the Long-Range Planning Committee recommended beginning the adoption process but that staff re-calculated housing targets after applying FLU updates and “the results were unexpected,” requiring additional analysis before final targets are presented.
Anne Nelson Stoner, outreach and engagement staff, summarized Supplement 3, an environmental benefits and burdens analysis added to meet statutory requirements. She said the available Vermont data include many gaps and do not always capture residents’ lived experience, producing questions and flags staff plan to investigate. “The data shows gaps and raises many questions that staff will need to follow up on,” Stoner said. Committee member Chris Dillard noted that quantitative datasets cannot always tell the whole story and asked how staff gathered qualitative input; Stoner and staff said they are pursuing additional community engagement to supplement the analysis.
Staff also explained that the 2028 Metropolitan Transportation Plan will incorporate the regional FLU and housing targets, and that ECOS will be updated afterward to reflect modeling outcomes. Newton said CCRPC staff aim for Board adoption in May 2026 and LURB approval in June or July 2026; the plan must also be submitted to the Vermont Department of Public Service for a regional energy compliance determination.
The committee approved the July 9, 2025 minutes earlier in the meeting: Aaron DeNamur moved to approve, Cymone Bedford seconded, and the motion passed unanimously with one abstention (Ravi Venkataraman).
The board posted materials online and staff said a link to the draft plan would appear on the Board website the next day. The committee had no further questions at the meeting’s close.