2005 Vermont Code - § 4409. — Limitations

§ 4409. Limitations

(a) Unless reasonable provision is made for the location of any of the following in a bylaw adopted pursuant to subchapter 6 of this title, the following uses may only be regulated with respect to size, height, bulk, yards, courts, setbacks, density of buildings, off-street parking and loading facilities and landscaping or screening requirements:

(1) Public utility power generating plants and transmission lines.

(2) State or community owned and operated institutions and facilities.

(3) Public and private schools and other educational institutions certified by the Vermont department of education.

(4) Churches, convents, and parish houses.

(5) Public and private hospitals.

(6) Regional solid waste management facilities certified under 10 V.S.A. chapter 159.

(7) Hazardous waste management facilities for which a notice of intent to construct has been received under section 6606a of Title 10.

(b) If any by-law is enacted with respect to any land development subject to regulation under state statutes, the more stringent or restrictive regulation applicable shall apply.

(c) No zoning permit for the development of land of the following types or located within the following designated areas may be granted by any municipality prior to the expiration of a period of 30 days following the submission of a report to the state agency designated in each case, describing the proposed use, the location requested and an evaluation of the effect of such proposed use on the plan of the municipality and on the regional plan, if any:

(1) Forests, parks and recreation department. Any use in or within 1000 feet of any state owned or leased property under the jurisdiction of the department of forests, parks and recreation, but not including any state owned railroad corridor leased to the department for interim trail use. This provision does not apply within any incorporated village or city.

(2) Department of environmental conservation. Any of the following uses or activities affecting ground or surface water resources:

(A) Any area designated as a flood plain or wetland.

(B) The damming of streams so as to form an impounding area of five acres or more for reservoir or recreational purposes.

(C) The drilling of wells deeper than 50 feet or with a potential yield greater than 25,000 gallons per day, except this shall not apply to a well drilled by the owner of a farm or residence for his own use, or the use of the farm.

(3) Fish and wildlife department. Game lands and stream bank area owned or leased by the state.

(4) Vermont transportation board. Airports.

(5) Forests, parks and recreation department. The following recreational areas:

(A) Ski areas with lifts or other equipment other than tows, with total capacity of more than 500 persons per hour.

(B) Camps with accommodations for more than 50 persons.

(C) Marinas with accommodations for 20 or more boats with lengths in excess of 20 feet.

(D) Public beaches, or lands within 1,000 feet thereof.

(E) Natural areas as defined in section 2010 of Title 10.

(6) Agency of transportation. Any use within 500 feet of the intersection of any entrance or exit ramp providing access to any limited access highway.

(d) A state licensed or registered residential care home or group home, serving not more than six persons who are developmentally disabled or physically handicapped, shall be considered by right to constitute a permitted single-family residential use of property, except that no such home shall be so considered if it locates within 1,000 feet of another such home.

(e) Unless a zoning regulation specifically provides to the contrary, limitations on permissible heights of structures shall not apply to antenna structures, to windmills with blades less than 20 feet in diameter or to rooftop solar collectors less than 10 feet high which are mounted on complying structures.

(f) A state registered or licensed family child care home serving six or fewer children shall be considered by right to constitute a permitted single-family residential use of property. A state registered or licensed family child care home serving no more than six full-time children and four part-time children, as defined in subdivision 4902(3)(A) of Title 33, shall be considered to constitute a permitted use of property but may require site plan approval based on local zoning requirements. A state registered or licensed family child care facility serving more than six full-time and four part-time children may, at the discretion of the municipality, be subject to all applicable municipal zoning bylaws.

(g) A municipality may enact a bylaw that imposes forest management practices resulting in a change in a forest management plan for land enrolled in the use value appraisal program pursuant to 32 V.S.A. chapter 124 only to the extent that those changes are silviculturally sound, as determined by the department of forests, parks and recreation, and protect specific natural, conservation, esthetic, or wildlife features in properly designated zoning districts. Such changes also must be compatible with 32 V.S.A. § 3755. (Added 1967, No. 334 (Adj. Sess.), § 1, eff. March 23, 1968; amended 1969, No. 116, § 8; 1971, No. 257, (Adj. Sess.), § 12, eff. April 11, 1972; 1977, No. 140 (Adj. Sess.), § 2, eff. March 24, 1978; 1979, No. 174 (Adj. Sess.), § 13; 1983, No. 158 (Adj. Sess.), eff. April 13, 1984; 1985, No. 143 (Adj. Sess.); No. 151 (Adj. Sess.), § 17; No. 188 (Adj. Sess.), § 12; 1987, No. 76, § 18; No. 110; 1989, No. 281 (Adj. Sess.), § 7, eff. June 22, 1990; No. 282 (Adj. Sess.), § 15, eff. June 22, 1990; 1995, No. 60, § 28a, eff. April 25, 1995; 1999, No. 37, § 1, eff. May 20, 1999; 1999, No. 98 (Adj. Sess.), § 1.)