Act 250

Two years after the reform law passed, and now that maps are being drafted, a growing chorus of critics asks whether the law’s promise will be realized.

The idea is to loosen the rules for building housing in some areas, and tighten up the permit requirements in environmentally sensitive areas. It’s getting complicated.

The specter of a lengthy court dispute can throw cold water on housing construction. Vermont’s new Act 250 board thinks it can resolve these disputes faster.

The board will play a key role in overseeing a years-long mapping process that will cement changes to Vermont’s statewide development review law.

Lawmakers had hoped the temporary carve-outs would help ease Vermont’s acute housing shortage. Developers are using the new exemptions in at least a dozen locations across the state.

“My sense is that the majority of the residents in Putney do support the project, and that there’s a small but loud, vocal minority that really opposes it,” said the Putney select board chair.

A proposed 99-unit hotel in downtown Rutland that will include 26 residential apartments, a restaurant and rooftop bar will not need Act 250 approval, due to its location being within the designated downtown development district.

The governor’s willingness to use his veto pen — and Democrats’ ability to erase it — represents a deepening partisan chasm in Montpelier.

The legislation, hailed as a compromise between advocates for housing and environmentalists, makes major changes to Vermont’s signature land-use law.

It’s unclear whether the Democrat-led Legislature will have the votes to override the governor’s veto.