Good morning.

Most Town/cities have that already in their zoning regulation.

Mark R Thibeault
CRE Source, LLC
P.O.Box 161
1705 Peach Brook Road
Newbury, VT  05051
(802) 363-8835 - Mobile

-----Original Message-----
From: GENE BEAUDOIN <genebeaudoin@comcast.net>
Sent: Tuesday, February 18, 2020 3:41 PM
To: Mark Thibeault <MarkT@cresource.us>; Kemener Whalen <kem@blackrockus.com>; Austin Davis <austin@vermont.org>
Cc: vtdevelopment <vtdevelopment@simplelists.com>
Subject: RE: [VT Dev] Act 250 Reform Bill Clears First Legislative Committee - Still has long road...

Mark,

There's a sleeper in the synopsis: RB and other agencies can bill applicants for staff time and for outside experts hired during Act 250 permit process.

Let that sink in. More staff time is better and more experts is better because "the developer" pays the bill. The cost of housing to the home buyer or renter just went up.

GB
>
> On February 18, 2020 at 3:34 PM Mark Thibeault <MarkT@cresource.us> wrote:
>
>
> The only way to resolve this problem is to educate the people, so they can vote the people with their heads in the sand out!
>
> I would suggest getting some time on public access TV and create show about to business in Vermont.
>
>
>
> [CRE_Logo_E-01]
>
> Mark R Thibeault
> CRE Source, LLC
> P.O.Box 161
> 1705 Peach Brook Road
> Newbury, VT  05051
> (802) 363-8835 - Mobile
>
>
> From: vtdevelopment@simplelists.com <vtdevelopment@simplelists.com> On
> Behalf Of Kemener Whalen
> Sent: Tuesday, February 18, 2020 3:24 PM
> To: Austin Davis <austin@vermont.org>
> Cc: vtdevelopment <vtdevelopment@simplelists.com>
> Subject: Re: [VT Dev] Act 250 Reform Bill Clears First Legislative Committee - Still has long road...
>
> Having paid very close attention to these activities through my role on the BOD for the VBRA - there seems to be dramatically mixed messages coming from the statehouse.  Perhaps one hand doesn't know what the other is doing.  Currently Gov Scott has been pressing the housing affordability issues.  While the committees working on this re-write are proposing an dramatic increase in fees (an almost 50% increase).  The regulatory cost of housing is a national issue (I was down in DC last year for the NAHB legislative conference), however the data suggests the regulatory costs are higher here in VT.  Coupled with smaller market without access to some of the major distribution hubs, our cost of construction is often higher than in other regions of the country.  Coupled with a skilled labor shortage, and the costs of the labor to construct housing is increasing.  So with increasing material costs, increasing labor costs, addressing the affordability issue falls to the regulatory environment.  The overall "feel" that is coming from those tasks with an Act 250 re-write is that there are too many projects being approved, and more regulatory oversight is needed.  As developers of the inventory that Vermonters purchase - we do not simply "eat" these costs - rather they are passed through to the consumer OR we simply don't do the project because the financials don't pencil out on the front end.  Until the administration and the legislative bodies tasked with making these changes recognize that the developer is simply a conduit of costs to the consumer the statehouse shall continue to "pretend" that the "developers will just pay for it" and will continue to make the inventory and affordability problem (the go hand in hand) will not abate, and will continue to get worse.  I urge all to communicate this point to anyone and everyone involved that they can.  Even if you simply point out the obvious - consumers pay the regulatory costs - not the developers.  Developers are just the conduit the state uses to pass costs through to the residents of our great state.
>
>
> [https://drive.google.com/a/blackrockus.com/uc?id=0B4-RIX5GPCh8S3hjOUp
> sdTVRM28&export=download]
> Kemener Whalen
> Chief Financial Officer
> BlackRock Construction
> p:
> 802.861.1123<tel:(802)%20861-1123>  m: 802.863.8313<tel:(802)863-8313>
> f:
> 802.861.0028<tel:(802)%20861-0028>
> a:
> 68 Randall St. South Burlington, VT
> 05403<https://maps.google.com/?q=68+Randall&entry=gmail&source=g>
> w:
> BlackRockUS.com<http://blackrockus.com/>  e:
> Kem@BlackRockUS.com<mailto:Kem@BlackRockUS.com>
>
>
> On Tue, Feb 18, 2020 at 3:01 PM Austin Davis <austin@vermont.org<mailto:austin@vermont.org>> wrote:
> All,
>
> I was asked if I would share with this listserve a recap of what has happened with Act 250 over the last week, which you can find below. Thursday, the House Committee on Natural Resources, Fish, and Wildlife passed their signature Act 250 reform bill which has been long-awaited. It ended not with a bang, but more of a whimper; the bill was voted out 6-3-2 and it is very likely the two members absent would have voted against the proposal.
>
> The work is far from over, as the bill was worked on today by the House Committees on Ways and Means to discuss the fees and cost. The House committees on Judiciary, Appropriations, and potentially Commerce and Economic Development will need to review the proposed changes before the bill could make it to the floor. If it survives a full vote from the House, it might not have the warmest welcome.
>
> I've summarized a high-level overview below, and the full bill can be read here<https://legislature.vermont.gov/Documents/2020/WorkGroups/House%20Natural/Bills/19-0040/Drafts,%20Amendments%20and%20Summaries/W~Ellen%20Czajkowski~DR%2019-0040,%20Draft%2014.1-As%20Recommended%20by%20House%20Natural%20Resources,%202-13-2020~2-13-2020.pdf>.
>
> High-level overview:
>
> •       The bill centralizes more authority in a more professionalized, full-time three-person Natural Resource Board that handles major cases. The Board is accompanied by two members of the district commission from which the major case is located, who will have full voting authority, to ensure a level of local input.
>
> o   Appeals to the Board’s decisions would no longer go to the e-court and rather go straight to the Supreme Court.  The Environmental Division of the Superior Court would continue to hear other permit appeals and enforcement.
>
> o   New board will cost somewhere between $500,000-$750,000 to operate
>
> •       District Commissions would still retain authority over minor cases and the per diem of District Commissioners are increased. Commissions as a whole make decisions around jurisdiction
>
> •       Language was added revising the statutory authority on the use of other permits to demonstrate compliance with Act 250 criteria, however, the bar was also lowered to rebut those presumptions.
>
> •       Fees increase from $6.65 to $9.65 for each $1,000 of the first $15,000,000 of construction costs
>
> •       N
> •       The bill attempts to make it less difficult to develop in Designated Downtowns and Neighborhood Development Areas by removing them from Act 250 jurisdiction, however, it does provide an avenue to appeal designation decisions.
>
> •       Restrictions are increased in a variety of ways;
>
> o   A lowering of the elevation threshold from 2,500 to 2,000-feet – this adds an estimated 400,000 acres into Act 250 jurisdiction - see map here<http://vtanr.maps.arcgis.com/apps/Minimalist/index.html?appid=bf3f609e050b4709af401284edf17bf4>
>
> o   a new trigger for commercial or industrial construction or improvements within a 2,000-foot radius of a highway interchange
>
> o   amendments made to protect forest blocks such as a 2,000-foot road rule
>
> •       New criteria were added relating to;
>
> o   Environmental justice – requiring that in addition to other criteria, “no group of people or municipality will bear a disproportionate share of the negative environmental consequences of the development or subdivision”
>
> o   Climate adaptation – in addition to other criteria, a project needs to meet and “building orientation, site and landscape design, and building design that are sufficient to enable the improvements” to adapt to climate change
>
> •       Many criteria were amended including transportation, energy conservation, public investment.
>
> •       Capability and Development Plan Findings will be adapted to include ecosystem protection and GHG emissions. There is also a study in the bill to better understand how the CDP and maps can be better used.
>
> •       The bill requires that, to be used in Act 250, local and regional plans must be approved as consistent with the statutory planning goals and clarifying that local and regional plan provisions apply to a project if they meet the same standard of specificity applicable to statutes. The bill establishes a pre-application process to allow municipal and regional planning commissions to weigh in on a project before the Act 250 permit application is filed.
>
> •       A new process is created that would allow properties to be released from Act 250 jurisdiction; meaning a permit can be extinguished for change of use or zoning changes.
>
> •       Air and water pollution criteria were split into three criteria. Air was expanded to include air pollution, such as air contaminants, greenhouse gas emissions, and noise. Water was split into water and water systems.
>
> •       Clarifying the definition of “commercial purpose” so that it is not necessary to determine whether monies received are essential to sustain a project. This was previously defined by rule and caselaw.
>
> •       The bill stops short of including river corridors and instead changes the scope of ANR’s Rivers program and requires ANR to create a permit for Highest Priority Rivers
>
> Feel free to let me know if you have any questions.
>
> Best,
>
> Austin
>
> --
>
> Austin Robert Davis
> Government Affairs Manager
>
> Lake Champlain Regional Chamber of Commerce
> 60 Main Street, Suite 100
> Burlington, VT 05401
> Direct: 802-863-3489, ext. 228
> austin@vermont.org<mailto:austin@vermont.org> | www.vermont.org
> <http://www.vermont.org/chamber>
>
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