Act 181 is coming: How will it affect your property? Details of this Act 250 reform are being defined as law is rolled out

By Shawn Cunningham
© 2025 Telegraph Publishing LLC

In 2024, the Vermont Legislature passed Act 181 that makes a number of changes to the state’s laws on land use with special attention to encouraging new housing in downtowns. But there may also be changes to the way rural land is treated and landowners should pay attention as new land use maps are being created.

It’s a dense 171-page read that offers temporary exemptions from Act 250 for housing in some areas and stricter Act 250 oversight in others. At the moment, rule-making and land-use discussions are under way and the language of the law requires meaningful public engagement in the work.

To that end, the Chester Planning Commission and the Mount Ascutney Regional Commission are working on a presentation to explain the new law and show how to use the map so residents and landowners can understand the changes and have a way to comment while the rules for the law are still being worked out. When the date and time are confirmed, the commission will hold the meeting at Chester Town Hall and on Zoom and people from other area towns will be welcome to attend. The presentation is tentatively set for Monday October, 20.

At its most basic, the law encourages development of housing and other economic activity in areas where there is existing infrastructure like water and sewer. That increased density of development is in contrast to the low density the state envisions in more rural areas.

Asked if the law makes development or other uses more restrictive outside of village centers, MARC Executive Director Jason Rasmussen said that was potentially true, but that the rule-making was still ongoing, so the affects are “yet to be determined.”

And that’s where questions arise. Downtowns and village centers that are already specially designated by the state are fully or partially exempt from Act 250, with zoning decisions to be made at a local level by a Development Review Board.

Outside those areas, the jurisdiction of Act 250 remains status quo. But the purposes of Act 181 — as stated in Section 1 are “… to protect and conserve the environment of the State … while supporting equitable access to infrastructure, including housing” so the categories in which properties are placed on land use maps may have bearing on how they are treated in the future.

Resources in understanding how Act 181 impacts Act 250

• MARC “story map”  explains graphically how the various categories of land use are treated under Act 181;
• MARC Growth Development Survey for residents to log their input;
• Act 181 as enacted by the legislature, for insomniacs and those who are detail-oriented; and
• Vermont League of Cities and Towns presentation on Act 181 and creation of housing.

Chester Planning Commission chair Hugh Quinn told The Telegraph that, for many years, Vermonters have sought reforms to Act 250 because it was one size fits all, despite differences in projects. By having the regional planning commissions such as MARC helping to design future land use maps, the state hopes to promote more housing development in areas of greater density with infrastructure while identifying areas to be protected.

Quinn agreed that that while the law would be less strict in some areas it may become more strict in others.

“Landowners might want to know about the changes and how their land gets labelled on the maps,” said Quinn noting that “you may not be able to do things you wanted with your land.”

Towns with no zoning — such as Cavendish — won’t be exempted from Act 250. Andover and Baltimore do have zoning, but since neither has a town center with the necessary infrastructure they can’t take advantage of Act 181’s provisions either.

“This (process) isn’t done,” said Rasmussen. “I want to have a robust conversation to make sure we get this right.”