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Hartland Selectboard approves targeted edits to 2025 Town Plan, defers energy and telecom chapters to Planning Commission
Summary
The Hartland Selectboard approved a bundle of targeted edits to the town's 2025 Town Plan on June 8, 2026, reinstating several Planning Commission‑preferred village and rural provisions while asking the Planning Commission to review the more complex Energy and Telecommunications chapters for a future draft.
The Hartland Selectboard on June 8 approved a series of targeted changes to the town's 2025 Town Plan and asked the Planning Commission to revisit proposed language in the Energy and Telecommunications chapters.
The action, taken during the board's regularly warned meeting, followed presentation of suggested edits from Rob Anderegg, the Planning Commission and members of the public. Selectboard Vice‑Chair Tom Kennedy moved to accept the Planning Commission's recommendations except for items three and seven (Lull Brook and the Emerald Ash Borer); Selectboard member Jim Rielly seconded and the motion passed unanimously.
Why it matters: the Town Plan sets local land‑use goals and policy guidance for village, rural and commercial areas. Changes accepted by the board reinstate Planning Commission language on village policies, tighten rural business and rural residential language, and require that future development in village centers within the floodplain conform to the adopted Hartland Flood Hazard Regulations.
Key decisions included accepting the Planning Commission's Village Policies as written and restoring specific rural provisions the commission proposed. The board also voted to remove the adverb "directly" from one rural residential provision, change one phrase from "may merit" to "may require," and to restore prohibitions in Rural Business policies in line with the Planning Commission's recommended text.
On the Energy and Telecommunications chapters, the Selectboard voted not to include the proposed language changes at this time and formally asked the Planning Commission to review those comments for consideration in the next Town Plan iteration.
The board framed the edits as largely technical and policy‑targeted adjustments rather than wholesale rewrites. Several members emphasized clarity on floodplain conformity and restrictions for rural‑area development.
The Planning Commission and staff will next take up the deferred Energy and Telecommunications comments and incorporate the board's motions into a revised draft. Any future substantive revisions will be scheduled for public hearing consistent with Vermont planning procedures.
