S.100
Part of what makes Vermont great is a commitment to limiting unnecessary development. With the highest rate of growth in the unhoused population — with a peak of 3,000 unhoused Vermonters in recent years — we have a responsibility to house more Vermonters while creating more options for renters who are too often pushed out of our state.
We must build more dense housing, without unnecessary parking requirements, in locations with existing municipal water and sewer infrastructure. Folks with disabilities, older Vermonters, and people without a personal vehicle ought to have access to a community, job opportunities, and healthy food. With 40% of our greenhouse gas emissions in Vermont derived from transportation, we cannot afford to encourage sprawl — we cannot settle for anything less than smart growth.
S. 100, which passed the Senate on Friday, aims to expand on the millions spent in recent years on housing to remove systemic barriers in land use planning and regulation. It reduces regulatory barriers for smart development, especially within “designated growth areas” that are served by municipal water and sewer. Jobs in the highest demand — the climate workforce, childcare, healthcare, and education —- are essential. Until we do the work on housing, however, our growth will remain stagnant in these critical sectors.
This is why we must remain committed to smart growth without encouraging sprawl that perpetuates societal inequities. It is critical that stakeholders maintain access to inform changes to our development and conservation laws. Act 250, Vermont’s core land use and development law, must be updated in order to make way for critical housing needs. S.100 was amended by the Natural Resources and Energy Committee and their advocates to ensure that environmental regulation rollbacks that will allow for more housing are limited in scope to mainly impact our zoning laws. We will still conserve the land that allows for Vermont’s biodiversity and agricultural richness to thrive. We must make sure that if we are building affordable housing, it stays affordable and does not “sunset” down the road, which is a provision included in S.100.
An amendment to S.100 introduced by Senator Chittenden would have encouraged development that would contribute to rural sprawl by enabling the construction of single family homes in protected areas and unfettered growth in more areas with much less review than is necessary. This amendment was referred to a study by Sen. Kesha Ram-Hinsdale (D/P). It would have otherwise updated the threshold in rural areas for a housing development to trigger an Act 250 review. That threshold, currently at 10 units, would have increased to 25 units essentially overnight, with no time for towns to update their zoning to accommodate that shift or reprioritize staffing capacity. The current version of the bill allows projects of 25 units entirely within designated downtown areas — allowing for us to create more dense housing in urban parts of Vermont, decrease emissions, and build vital communities.
Our current development favors people with money who can afford to build a new home, which is what makes the most profit for developers. Any major housing bill changing our major land use laws must center the needs of our most vulnerable who are disadvantaged by the current system — not encourage growth that could needlessly harm the environment and benefit the most economically advantaged Vermonters. It is essential that amendments like this do not pass, and we are grateful to those who took aspects such as these out of the initial bill.
Public caucus
Join us tomorrow for our public caucus on S.100, Housing, and Act 250 with Kathy Beyer from Evernorth, Kati Gallagher from Vermont Natural Resources Council, and Peter Gregory from Two Rivers-Ottaquechee Regional Commission. We will hear perspectives from different angles of our housing crisis and the Environmental Act 250 perspective. Join us in Pavillion 270 next to the State House or on the Legislative Caucus Youtube Channel.
Action Alert
Goddard College staff are on strike for a fair contract. Their staff has been working to negotiate, with no willingness from Goddard College President Dan Hocoy — whose only comment on the strikes has been disrespecting strikers to the press. Striking union members’ healthcare was even cut last week— in a shocking move to try and get strikers to back down.
Join the picket line, donate to the union hardship fund, sign the petition to call on Union President Dan Hocoy to engage, respect, and work with the Goddard College Staff Union.
Trans Day of Visibility
Friday was Trans Day of Visibility. Progressives joined Outright Vermont’s rally on the State House Lawn in solidarity with the trans community nationwide, with heartwarming speakers of all ages.
Progs in the Press
Seven Days: Vermont Lawmakers are Preparing to Double Their Salaries
Working people continue to miss out on having their voices heard in Montpelier. Rep. Emma Mulvaney-Stanak says that “Vermont working families deserve a voice here in these walls,” and describes the challenges of juggling lawmaking, parenting, and working.
Vermont’s sex workers and some lawmakers want to decriminalize prostitution in the state. This hour, we’ll shine a light on an industry that currently exists in the shadows. Rep. Taylor Small and sex workers say changing the state’s laws would increase safety and equality for all.
VTDigger: Vermont Senate advances ranked choice voting for presidential primaries
“‘Introducing S.32 to her colleagues on the Senate floor, Sen. Tanya Vyhovsky, P/D-Chittenden Central, said ranked choice voting is “an often misunderstood and seemingly complex topic that, once understood, is actually quite simple.”
‘Ranked choice voting is a system of voting that allows the voter to rank the candidates in order of preference, sort of like if you've ever taken your child to get ice cream,’ she said. ‘And you ask them what flavor they want, and they say maple. And then you might ask, ‘Well, what if they don't have maple?’ And they say, ‘Blackberry is my second choice.’ This is ranked choice voting.’”
