Community Planning Partnership Communities

Smart Growth Vermont has begun work on a multifaceted project with the town of Burke that will help the town prepare for large-scale anticipated growth.  Working in partnership with the Northeastern Vermont Development Association, Smart Growth Vermont will build on a series of plan and bylaw revisions already put into place by the town over the last few years.  The town’s planning efforts are in response to a large-scale resort development planned for Burke Mountain that will add a projected 1000 new housing units to this small rural town over the next decade.  “With Ginn Corporation’s purchase of Burke Mountain, the town knows that growth is inevitable,” said Noelle MacKay, executive director of Smart Growth Vermont.  “But they are determined to be out in front of the process, guiding growth in ways that are compatible with the town’s rural character, scenic beauty, and ecological value.”  This work is made possible in part by a Municipal Planning Grant from the Department of Housing and Community Affairs.

The Town of Danville has selected Smart Growth Vermont to assist the town with evaluating and updating its bylaws so as to encourage the construction of new homes and businesses within and around Danville Village.  The project is intended to complement the planned reconfiguration of Route 2 where it passes through the village, making it easier for businesses and homeowners to take advantage of the more pedestrian-friendly environment and enhanced village character that will be the result of the Route 2 work.  Zoning standards in many of Vermont’s towns set minimum lot sizes and setbacks that are impossible to comply with in a traditional village center, where buildings typically sit close to each other and close to the road.  Such standards make it difficult or impossible for owners of small or irregularly shaped village parcels to develop them, and forces owners of larger parcels to build in ways that are more appropriate for the rural countryside than for the middle of a village.  Smart Growth Vermont will help Danville identify a range of options for making its zoning bylaws more “village friendly” and then develop revised bylaw language for the options that the town selects.

In partnership with LandWorks, a Middlebury-based landscape architecture and planning firm, Smart Growth Vermont has been chosen to assist the Town of Pownal with its effort to seek growth center designation for Pownal Village and adjacent lands, including the site of the former Green Mountain Race Track.  The Town feels that growth center designation would build upon and strengthen their efforts to support development strategies that result in well-paying jobs and new housing while reinforcing smart growth land use policies.  Smart Growth Vermont is interested in helping the Town lay the foundations for compact, mixed-use development in and around Pownal Village that provides a mixture of services, employment and housing for residents within easy walking distance of each other.  This work is made possible in part by a Municipal Planning Grant from the Department of Housing and Community Affairs.

Smart Growth Vermont has been selected by the Town of Warren to assist them with developing a strategy and revising its bylaws to promote the construction of affordable housing.  Warren has been actively investigating, and seeking ways to meet the housing needs for the community in a manner that enhances their village center and preserves the rural countryside.  In deciding to take on the challenge of providing housing for all, Warren’s planning commission has acknowledged that affordability isn’t just a housing issue – it is a key concern for anyone who cares about Vermont’s working rural landscape. There is a critical shortage of moderately priced homes in Vermont, and local policies and codes are sometimes part of the problem.  However, Warren’s community leaders have made a commitment to changing that. In partnership with Housing Vermont, a nonprofit development company that produces permanently affordable rental housing for Vermonters, Smart Growth Vermont will work to identify the most effective housing strategies for Warren.  This work is made possible in part by a Municipal Planning Grant from the Department of Housing and Community Affairs.

We have been working with the Bristol Planning Commission to review and comment on the draft Town Plan, prepared by the Commission, and to make recommendations regarding specific measures to implement the plan. Prior to completion of the draft, Smart Growth Vermont staff toured the Town with local officials, including most Planning Commission members and Town staff. Smart Growth Vermont staff provided comments and recommendations in November 2007 on an early draft of the Town Plan. The Planning Commission is currently working on incorporating these comments and we are expecting a second draft in April.  Our intern, Abby Farnham, presented an analysis and summary of the 2006 Town survey to the Commission and the public on March 18. You can view the survey results, as well as the raw data that was used to develop the analysis, below.

Bristol Town Survey

Survey Raw Data

In addition, Smart Growth Vermont has prepared a comprehensive review of the updated Bristol town plan, assessing in each section how effectively the town met its goal of incorporating smart growth principles into its plan.  Download the report to see how Bristol did! 

We assisted the Planning Commission with the development, distribution and analysis of a Village landowner survey to help the Commission develop a plan and associated bylaw revisions for the Village.  Key community concerns are maintaining the small-scale and historic character of the Village while designating areas of Town that would accommodate higher housing densities than in the rural areas of the community.  Based on survey results and land use analysis conducted by our staff, we, together with the Addison County Regional Planning Commission, drafted village zoning standards and associated review criteria that address the key issues. Recently, the Cornwall Selectboard approved the revisions to their zoning that will encourage housing that reflects the scale and pattern of development in the village.

Smart Growth Vermont has been working in partnership with the Vermont Natural Resources Council (VNRC) and the Southern Windsor Regional Planning Commission to develop Town Plan policies and implementation measures to address the ongoing fragmentation of productive forest land.  This project is partly an outgrowth of VNRC’s statewide forest fragmentation initiative, with Smart Growth Vermont providing its expertise in land use planning and development regulation. In March, Smart Growth Vermont staff presented their technical review of the Town’s Plan and zoning bylaws, together with options for strengthening those documents and establishing non-regulatory tools to support ongoing forest management. Those options will be presented as part of a community forum in April.

Smart Growth Vermont was asked by the Town to assist with its effort to achieve growth center designation for Waitsfield Village and the adjacent Irasville Village Center.  Irasville was designated the Town’s growth center in the Town Plan in the mid-1970's, and has been the focus of most of the town’s mixed-use development since that time.  We are advising the Planning Commission and the Town’s consultant, PlaceSense, on a number of policy issues and helping to coordinate the designation process. Currently, we have assisted the Town and PlaceSense Consultant, Brandy Saxton, in submitting a preliminary application for growth center designation to the State Planning and Coordination Group (PCG). The application, which would designate a growth center of slightly over 300 acres, including the historic Waitsfield Village, was positively received by group members and the Town is now waiting for comments from agency staff.