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New laws, programs ease housing shortage
by Lisa McCormack

This is the third and final installment of a series about the affordable housing crisis affecting Lamoille County and the rest of Vermont. This week we look at new state laws that will make it more difficult for towns to block affordable housing projects, and we’ll take a look at some of the ongoing affordable housing initiatives in Lamoille County.

Carol Collins is cautiously optimistic about the future of affordable housing in Vermont.

As executive director of the Lamoille Housing Partnership, a group that works to provide affordable housing, she is well aware of the crisis facing Lamoille County. But, she believes a new loan program that is coming to the area, along with new state laws aimed at easing the problem, will offer some relief.

She is also proud that some existing programs are working well in the county, such as one that involves rehabilitating historic buildings and turning them into affordable housing.

“Most of what the Lamoille Housing Partnership has done has involved rehabilitating rental properties, especially the rehabilitation of historic structures,” Collins said. “It provides a nice combination of preserving historic buildings and bringing apartments up to code.”

The group obtains loans to buy rental properties and then works at making the properties self-sufficient. In recent years, it has restored buildings in downtown areas of Johnson, Hardwick and Jeffersonville; rehabilitated eight apartments above the Morrisville post office; and developed three affordable housing units in Stowe.

New state rules on affordable housing
Stowe will have a tougher time blocking affordable housing proposals when new statewide zoning laws take effect in September.

The new regulations, required under Act 250, cover a wide range of zoning issues. They are intended to promote affordable housing, update town planning practices and streamline local permitting processes.

“The state reforms are very positive and it was good to see a lot of non-patrician participation,” Collins said. “Everyone understands Vermont’s permitting policies are important for preserving the quality of land, but some policies have been prohibitive.”

Every Vermont town must update its zoning laws to comply with the statewide regulations by September 2005. State regulations will supersede any conflicting local rules at that time, and the state attorney general will take legal action against towns that do not meet the deadline.

Under the new regulations, towns must make provisions to encourage development of affordable housing, and they are not allowed to restrict it, said Mike Miller, a senior land use planner with the Lamoille County Planning Commission.

The new regulations would make it easier for developers to win local approval for affordable housing projects, because towns aren’t allowed to enact zoning regulations that exclude or place unreasonable limits on such developments. Developers could complain to the state attorney general’s office if they believed a town was purposefully excluding affordable housing.

The new rules also prohibit towns from excluding mobile homes, mobile home parks, or modular homes, however, towns may limit them to specific zoning areas.

SylvanPark to return
The new state rules could force Stowe to re-examine an affordable housing project it blocked last year.

Collins’ group, the Lamoille Housing Partnership, had proposed building 42 units of affordable housing on Sylvan Park Road in the lower village. The Stowe Development Review Board struck down the proposal, based on the design of the project, which board members said would be too large and out of character with the rest of the neighborhood.

The Lamoille Housing Partnership appealed the ruling to the Vermont Environmental Court, but the court ruled in the town’s favor.

Now the group plans to begin the Act 250 permitting process once again, and hopes the new regulations and a revamped design will win state and local approval this time.

“The new design plan calls for duplexes and triplexes with a similar footprint to existing homes,” Collins said. “Overall, there are fewer buildings, and the buildings are smaller than the original design.”

The group will likely present its proposal to the Stowe Development Review Board this summer and would like to begin construction in the spring of 2006 if it wins approval, Collins said.

New home loan program coming soon
A Vermont community development program that will feature low-interest loans for home-buyers, along with small home-improvement loans, is scheduled to be offered in Lamoille County by 2006.

The Central Vermont Community Land Trust offers a revolving loan fund to certain Vermont counties. One aspect of the program is that Vermonters can apply for loans to rehabilitate homeowner-occupied properties.

In addition to allowing owners to make fixer-uppers more livable, the loans can make home ownership more affordable. Homeowners could, for example, add accessory apartments, which would help cover their mortgage costs.

“It’s exciting that we will have access to it (the program) in Lamoille County,” Collins said. “We would like to see it cover the entire state eventually. We’re working on closing the gap.”