Bill > H0749

This bill proposes significant changes to Vermont's land use and conservation laws, shifting the focus from specific conservation goals to a broader vision that emphasizes economic opportunity, working lands, and community development, while also repealing the state's previous land conservation goals. Specifically, it amends the State's conservation vision to include support for working lands, homesteading, conscious capitalism, values-based industry, and villages as community centers, aiming to foster abundance and prosperity that can benefit both citizens and natural ecosystems. The bill also modifies rules for land use review, encouraging conscious development of wildlife habitat while maintaining historic values of homesteading and agrarian activities, and streamlining the permitting process for single-family dwellings and accessory structures. Furthermore, it clarifies that resource mapping, which identifies natural resources like forest blocks and habitat connectors, will be advisory rather than determinative for regulatory programs, and it repeals a specific provision related to road jurisdiction. The bill also adjusts the process for identifying "Tier 3 areas," which are designated for critical natural resource protection, by removing a limitation that prevented municipalities or regions from being disproportionately impacted and by removing a requirement for mapping these areas.

Agriculture and Natural Resources

https://legislature.vermont.gov/bill/status/2026/H.749