MONTPELIER, Vt. (WCAX) – Vermont lawmakers are returning to the Statehouse next week and housing creation is once again expected to be a major priority. A new law last year made changes to Act 250 in the hopes of stimulating housing, but some towns say that without costl investments in infrastructure first, some of the law’s benefits remain out of grasp.
Statehouse leaders have tussled with Act 250 reforms for over a decade before making sweeping changes last year. A new quasi-judicial land use review board appointed this week will begin mapping which densely populated parts of Vermont are exempt from Act 250, the state’s signature land use law, and which ones will require stricter environmental protections.
Waitsfield is one of several Vermont towns without a public sewer system to hook new homes and businesses up to. “A municipal wastewater system allows more density per unit per acre and can retire aging systems that can have environmental health issues,” said Joshua Schwartz with the Mad River Valley Planning District.
Waitsfield residents this summer approved a $15 million bond for a new wastewater plant slated to be built off Route 100. The town hopes that will lead to housing growth to help struggling employers fill jobs. “A lot of the staff that work at the ski areas or the restaurants or in retail in the community — they are having a harder and harder time finding housing,” said Waitsfield Selectman Chach Curtis
With lawmakers are likley to focus on education finance eform and other affordablility issues, Curtis and other town leaders say the state’s housing puzzle remains incomplete without infrastructure assistance. It’s not just education funding. It’s this mix of infrastructure that supports economic development that helps solve the education funding piece,” he said.
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