Land Use in Vermont
Land Use Planning and Regulation
Land use planning and regulation in Vermont mainly takes place at the municipal level, there being no county government to speak of and no overall state land use plan. All lands in Vermont are located within municipalities and with very few exceptions there are no unincorporated areas. The foundations of regulations begin with municipal plans. However, towns are not required to have a plan. For towns that do want to have a plan, it must meet several requirements. You can learn more here.
Without a valid plan a municipality cannot adopt or amend land use regulations. Not all municipalities have zoning or subdivision regulations, which can be combined into a unified bylaw. All municipalities in the TRORC region do have floodplain regulations (which is a limited form of zoning), and this can be freestanding or inside the zoning.
Many types of development trigger state permits. For a full listing of what permits are needed, see our permits page.
Local plans and regulations are crafted by volunteer Planning Commissions, often with help from TRORC. Much of that work is funded by Municipal Planning Grants.
Land use decisions and permits are generally carried out by a paid administrative officer, commonly called a zoning administrator, with some decisions being made by a volunteer Development Review Board. A few towns still use a Zoning Board of Adjustment or Planning Commission to make some local decisions. Neither paid or volunteer staff are required to have any formal training in the area.
We have many training opportunities available to town officials and the public, including pre-made information sheets, videos or presentations, and in-person trainings. You can find what we have available here. If you would like to invite us to your town to present the material to the public or one of your town committees, please contact Kevin Geiger at TRORC. TRORC staff are also happy to answer questions – please contact Bryan Kovalick or Kyle Katz.
In addition to our training, the state has created training materials on planning that can be found here.
Staff Contact
Kevin Geiger, Chief Planner
[email protected] – 802-457-3188 ext. 3003