Planning advisory committee backs draft housing targets, favors 60% urban distribution

The Chittenden County Regional Planning Commission’s Planning Advisory Committee on Wednesday voted to endorse draft regional housing targets that allocate 60% of projected housing growth to urban municipalities and to release the figures for public comment.

The vote followed a staff presentation and more than an hour of discussion about how the targets were calculated, how they reflect infrastructure constraints such as water and sewer service areas, and whether the targets should prioritize frequent-transit corridors. Paul Conner, a PAC member from South Burlington, proposed the motion; Aaron DeNamur, a PAC member from Shelburne, seconded it. The motion passed unanimously.

Why it matters: These targets will be paired with a draft Regional Future Land Use map in the CCRPC’s public engagement materials. PAC members said the distribution will shape local town-plan conversations and influence where municipalities prioritize zoning and infrastructure investments.

Staff framed the decision as an opening for public discussion rather than a final allocation. Charlie Baker, CCRPC executive director, and Taylor Newton, Planning Program Director, told members the draft numbers and the Future Land Use map would be posted online and that the goal is to start conversations with municipalities and residents.

Several municipal representatives urged caution about relying on the formula without additional local context. Cathyann LaRose of Colchester said she was concerned that the formula produced higher targets in parts of Colchester that are not planned for growth and that water and wastewater service areas were applied in ways she found unclear. Taylor Newton responded that Colchester’s service area for water and sewer is smaller than some other urban municipalities and that many of its target units come from mapped Village Areas; he said the method “is used to achieve reasonable targets, but the municipalities are reasonable for deciding and regulating where that housing should be.”

Other members pushed to steer more growth toward places served by transit. Chris Yuen said the current method assigned more housing to Essex Town than to Essex Junction and suggested giving additional weight to municipalities with frequent transit routes. Several urban members supported raising the urban share from 50% to 60% as a clearer statement in favor of smart growth. Charles Dillard of Burlington said that shift would amount to roughly 1,000 additional units for Burlington and that the city is comfortable with the draft numbers.

Members also raised practical limits. Katherine Sonnick noted sewer capacity constraints in Essex, Matt Boulanger and others cautioned that infrastructure investment timelines in Williston and other towns affect their ability to meet targets, and Zach Maia said that while Colchester’s mid-target reflects historic growth patterns, it does not push the town to address housing needs. Darren Schibler, a CCRPC senior planner, urged a focus on messaging: “the messaging is more important than the number: it is about starting conversations [about] housing growth.”

The committee discussed presentation options for the public: releasing a single overall number with detailed methodology available on request; offering a range (mid–to–high) for municipalities to use depending on local capacity; and running a variant of the model that gives more weight to existing transit corridors. Taylor Newton said staff could run background analyses and provide disaggregated details if requested.

Action taken: Paul Conner moved that PAC support the draft housing targets with 60% of the regional target allocated to urban municipalities and encourage messaging that mixed urban/rural communities aim for mid-to-high targets where infrastructure permits. Aaron DeNamur seconded the motion; the committee approved it unanimously. The meeting adjourned at 3:34 p.m.

Next steps: CCRPC staff will post the draft Regional Future Land Use map and the housing targets for public engagement, run follow-up analyses as needed (including transit-weighted scenarios), and incorporate public comments before returning revised numbers to PAC.