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Senate committee wrestles with S.328 language on water‑served housing, quadplexes and farmworker housing report
Summary
Sen. Kinsdale told the Senate Natural Resources & Energy committee March 19 that S.328 seeks to harmonize the Home Act and Act 181 so that properties served by water and sewer may allow duplex/quadplex housing where single‑family homes would otherwise be permitted; the committee discussed whether to change statutory language from 'municipal' to 'public' water systems (Rural Water warned 78% of Vermont's public water systems are non‑municipal) and agreed to try to include fire districts in the next amendment draft.
Sen. Kinsdale, speaking as the committee’s reporter on S.328, told the Senate Natural Resources & Energy committee March 19 that the bill’s central goal is to harmonize the Home Act and Act 181 so municipal regulation and Act 250 apply consistently where a parcel is served by water and sewer. "We have about 41 square miles of water and sewer infrastructure in the state," she said, stressing the committee’s intent to protect limited public infrastructure while allowing multifamily housing where service exists.
Kinsdale said the lawmakers’ aim is to avoid using water‑and‑sewer hookups as a backdoor barrier to multifamily housing. She used a local example to explain the stakes: a site that once was slated for roughly 19 housing units became a car wash after developers abandoned housing plans because of perceived permit and capacity hurdles. "I don't think we're necessarily meeting our environmental goals by stopping housing from being able to get access to water, sewer where…
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