Engineer asks planning commission to consider quality-based wetland buffer rules

Dave Marshall, a principal at Civil Engineering Associates, asked the South Burlington Planning Commission to consider amending the city’s land development regulations so buffers around wetlands can vary based on the wetland’s functions and values rather than only on zoning district. "Currently, the regulations create buffers for wetlands depending on the zoning district they're in, but they don't take into account the quality of the wet," Marshall said, asking the commission to place the topic on the FY27 work plan for further scoping.

Staff framed the meeting as an initial concept review rather than a request for immediate policy change; commissioners said they wanted to understand the scale of staff time and any needed consultant work before committing. One commissioner warned, "this does feel like an area where minor tweaks to this amendment could have pretty significant impacts," noting both ecological and land-use consequences.

Marshall described potential tools that would let the Development Review Board consider wetland quality and, when applicants request reduced buffers, require third-party technical justification so the city is not burdened by specialist review costs. Staff noted the state’s wetland permitting process already collects functions-and-values information and that any local approach would need to respect state review and statutory limits.

The commission did not vote on policy tonight; members signaled general interest and staff recommended returning to the commission with a scoped proposal and estimated staff/consultant hours for inclusion on the FY27 work plan. Public commenters sought maps and clarification about specific site effects; staff said an updated map was not yet available.