About Plans
Town Plans
What is a town plan?
Town plans are the sole comprehensive place where towns describe what they plan to do over the next eight years. A town plan forms the basis for any land use regulations and capital budgets.
Towns are not required to have town plans, but if they do, Vermont statute (24 VSA section 4382) lays out the parts they must contain. Town plans must also be consistent with the state planning goals in 24 VSA section 4302. Towns are required to have a valid plan in place if they are going to adopt or amend any bylaws. Town plans also function as the community development plans required for Community Development Block Grants.
Town plans are generally aspirational, non-binding documents, but they have quasi-regulatory effect on development projects that require an Act 250 permit, where compliance with town plans is mandatory. In addition, state reviews through the Public Utility Commission of energy projects in a 248 process, or of cell towers through a 248a process, both look to town plans for guidance. The Department of Public Service provides a ‘determination of energy compliance’ for town plans upon request, either directly or through TRORC if our Regional Plan has received that approval from the PSD. This determination gives greater importance to the wishes of the plans during the state review.
What is the adoption process for town plans?
The town plan adoption process is laid out in sections 4484 and 4385 of Title 24 of the Vermont Statutes. The planning commission must hold at least one hearing on the draft plan before sending it on to the Selectboard, who then hold their own hearing. At least two selectboard hearings are required in towns with over 2,500 people. TRORC can help towns through this process, as it is important that it is done correctly.
More information is found at our town plan approval page. There is a handy adoption checklist with two parts (one for plans and one for bylaws). TRORC recommends treating all amended, adopted, or readopted processes as the same.
What is the process for town plan approval by TRORC?
Per 24 VSA section 4350(A), a municipality may request regional approval of their town plan by the Regional Commission. When requested by the Selectboard, TRORC reviews the town plan to determine if the document is consistent with the State’s planning goals, the Regional Plan and the approved plans of other municipalities in the region. It is best to ask us for an informal review prior to plan adoption in case there are areas that need to be fixed.
Per 24 VSA section 4352, towns may also request a simultaneous regional determination of energy compliance by TRORC, which reviews the plan under a set of guidelines for energy planning.
Please see our town plan approval page for more information.
Regional Plan
What is the Regional Plan?
The Regional Plan is very similar to the town plan in its required parts (though these are laid out in 24 VSA section 4348a), except the scope is regional. Like town plans, the Regional Plan must be consistent with the state planning goals in 24 VSA section 4302.
Learn more about the Regional Plan here.
Act 250
How are town and regional plans used in Act 250?
All projects that trigger Act 250 permitting must conform to the local and Regional Plan. In this way, the plans themselves can have regulatory effect. However, this is limited to where they clearly have mandatory language. For example, a policy that “encourages shared parking lots” can be used in Act 250, but can’t mandate shared lots, but a policy that states, “shared parking will be used, when present, to minimize creating impervious surface” creates a mandate.
Learn more about Act 250 here.
Plan Maps
What maps are in town and regional plans?
Both town plans and the Regional Plan are required to have a series of maps, some of which are often combined. One of the main maps is the Future Land Use map, as that is used on the local level to guide zoning districts, and at the regional level to indicate areas for various levels of use. We make a variety of maps using our Geographic Information System (GIS).
Learn more about our mapping services here.
Emergency Plans
What kind of emergency plans are there?
Please visit our page on Emergency plans here.