• Vermont's land use laws help provide fair and inclusive local land use regulations.Vermont Summer image by bzphoto from Fotolia.com
  
  Vermont's land use laws help provide a process for landowners and local communities to protect their rights, health and safety. One of the major land use laws is the Municipal and Regional Planning and Development statute, which gives local governments the power to enact zoning laws and draw up land use plans. It prescribes a process and requirements for communities choosing to engage in land use planning or regulation, but does not require them to plan. Other land use laws protect farmers and low-income homeowners from the effects of land use lawsuits or zoning regulations.
  
  

Municipal and Regional Planning and Development Statute

• The core of Vermont's land use laws is embodied in the Municipal and Regional Planning and Development Statute. This law does not require local communities to plan or enact zoning regulations, contrary to the land use laws of other states. To ensure predictability for landowners and fair public process for constituents, the law provides a basic set of rules for those communities opting to enact land use regulations. The law gives local governments the power to regulate land development locally and to establish agencies to enforce local regulations. Much of the law is concerned with procedural details, such as the appropriate size and proceedings of a local planning commission; but, the important takeaway from this statute is that it establishes the basic framework for Vermont's zoning laws, land development rules, and public land use hearings.
  
  

Right-to-Farm Statute

• Right-to-farm laws help protect rural landowners from lawsuits launched by neighbors.farm image by Photoeyes from Fotolia.com
  
  Farmers often face specific land use challenges as a result of nearby urban development. Because farming operations can be noisy and obnoxious, many farmers are the target of complaints from neighboring homes and businesses. In some cases, these complaints rise to the level of lawsuits that threaten the feasibility of farming operations. In order to protect the property rights of farmers and Vermont's agricultural resources, the state legislature enacted a protective land use statute called the Right-to-Farm Law. The Right-to-Farm Law does not protect all rural landowners, as local residents may still raise complaints against agricultural operations that violate federal, state or local laws. To receive protection under the law, farmers must have maintained consistent agricultural practices that pre-exist nearby urban uses.
  
  

Inclusionary Zoning Laws

• Inclusionary zoning laws ensure residential areas are accessible to lower income families.house image by Cora Reed from Fotolia.com
  
  Some land use laws in Vermont are designed to help provide more affordable housing for residents. Laws that accomplish this through zoning requirements and incentives are known as "inclusionary zoning" laws. The crux of these zoning laws is to address potential problems resulting from "exclusionary zoning," or land use regulations that effectively prohibit the provision of housing for lower income families and individuals. According to the inclusionary zoning laws, local governments that choose to enact inclusionary zoning must help to make the provision of affordable housing economically feasible for developers while meeting the requirements of their local housing plans. The laws specifically prohibit exclusionary zoning practices and empower the Attorney General to investigate violations.