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BURLINGTON, VT – On Wednesday, May 24th at 10:45 a.m., Governor Douglas will sign two bills that encourage communities to plan for future development within compact areas adjacent to traditional downtowns and village centers. "The growth centers bill is one of the most significant land-use law in thirty years,” said John T. Ewing, Board Chair for the Vermont Forum on Sprawl. “Since Act 250 was enacted, Vermont has lacked a strategy to identify areas appropriate for growth and target state investments to those areas. The bill does just that." S.142, the Downtowns and Growth Centers Bill, is landmark legislation that provides communities choosing to identify local growth centers with state support for planning and infrastructure. Landowners would receive regulatory incentives to encourage development in these areas. “This is exactly what Vermonters want,” said Noelle MacKay, the Vermont Forum on Sprawl’s Executive Director. “Our 2006 Vermonter Poll conducted by the University of Vermont’s Center for Rural Studies shows more than 80% of those surveyed support creating designated centers where most growth within a community would occur.” “For too many years, it’s been cheaper and easier to build scattered, low-density development on farm fields, rather than building in a manner that respects Vermont’s tradition of compact neighborhoods and downtowns,” MacKay explained. “This legislation seeks to level the playing field by supporting those communities that plan for growth centers, and easing the regulatory burden on property within those centers.” In addition to creating the new growth centers program, the legislation also expands and streamlines tax credits that are currently available to assist property owners in Vermont's 19 designated downtowns, and extends those programs to the state’s 60 designated village centers. The tax credits may be used to assist property owners to upgrade commercial buildings to comply with life-safety requirements, make facade improvements and renovate historic buildings. “The changes to the tax credit program included in S.142 will encourage more building rehabilitation in downtowns and village centers, and will make it much easier for small businesses to participate in the program,” said Paul Bruhn, Executive Director of the Preservation Trust of Vermont. Governor Douglas will also sign S.165, the tax incentive and economic development bill. In addition to revamping the state’s economic development programs, this legislation authorizes municipalities to establish special taxing districts within designated growth centers to pay for infrastructure improvements that support future development. Referred to as Tax Increment Finance (TIF) Districts, these areas allow up to 75% of tax revenues generated by new development to be reallocated from the state education fund pay for sewer facilities, parking garages and similar public facilities. “Until this bill was passed, tax increment financing was not available to most Vermont communities. This legislation opens up new opportunities to pay for the infrastructure needed to support local growth centers in a carefully targeted way that does not undermine the state education fund,” explained MacKay. Former Environmental Board Chair and President of the Vermont Land Trust Darby Bradley sees the legislation as a significant step toward promoting development in accord with Vermont’s traditional settlement patterns. Darby explains that, “there is little doubt that Vermont’s population is going to grow. The question is where that growth will occur. If by designating growth centers we can encourage more housing development in our downtowns and villages, that will ease some of the pressures for sprawl in rural areas. It will also provide a clear signal to developers about where communities want to grow.” The Vermont Land Trust works with individuals, organizations and communities to conserve land for the future of Vermont. For more information, please visit www.vlt.org. The Preservation Trust of Vermont initiates, stimulates and assists local and statewide efforts to preserve and use Vermont's rich collection of historic, architectural cultural and community resources. For more information, please visit www.ptvermont.org. The Vermont Forum on Sprawl works for more housing options for all Vermonters, vibrant villages and downtowns, and productive farm and forest lands. For more information, please visit www.vtsprawl.org. click here for document by Vermont Forum on Sprawl on the benefits of S.142
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