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Natural Resources & Energy committee weighs S.328 zoning changes and 2,000‑foot service‑area proposal
Summary
The Natural Resources & Energy committee reviewed S.328 (draft 3.1), which would expand allowed housing types in residential zones and add a 2,000‑foot default for areas deemed served by municipal water and sewer. Vermont Natural Resources Council urged limiting or tying the distance to mapped growth areas and offered lower‑distance alternatives; the committee may consider amendments.
The Senate Natural Resources & Energy committee met March 17 to review S.328 (draft 3.1), a housing and economic‑development bill that would change municipal zoning rules to explicitly allow manufactured housing, make duplexes a permitted use in residential districts, and require municipalities served by water and sewer to permit multi‑unit dwellings of four or fewer units on the same lot as single‑family homes. Legislative counsel Mr. Chowosk briefed the committee on the bill's zoning and definition changes.
Counsel summarized the proposed definition change in section 8 that would treat an "area served by municipal water and sewer infrastructure" as any parcel within 2,000 feet of municipal water and wastewater systems. "This is proposing that that be within 2,000 ft those systems," Mr. Chowosk said, describing the distance‑based option added to the statutory definition.
Katie Gallagher of the Vermont Natural Resources Council said her group supports the bill's underlying goal of encouraging housing in areas with…
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