Legislation introduced last year could have provided incentives for well-designed housing development on any parcel with municipal sewer selected by the host municipality. The bill died in committee when environmental groups argued that simply being on municipal sewer was too permissive to ensure a strong connection to downtown. They stressed pedestrian access was vital.

Since the session, these groups have maintained that incentives, if any, should be limited to housing within or immediately adjacent to a designated downtown.

Barre has more than 150 parcels of mostly-vacant land with easy access to municipal sewer. Those parcels are currently zoned to accommodate up to 5,000 housing units, but the vast majority of them are a half-mile to a mile from the center of the city. Only two tiny parcels (less than two acres total) are within or immediately adjacent to the designated downtown area.

A study of parcels in Waterbury indicates no undeveloped lots on municipal sewer available in the designated downtown and none immediately adjacent, either. In fact, there appear to be no undeveloped parcels within a half-mile of the center of Waterbury.

The Barre and Waterbury parcel maps are two of seven created by the Central Vermont Regional Planning Commission’s GIS department for the regional housing partnership. Each map focused on land served by municipal sewer where higher density development is easiest and most practical. The purpose of the project is to identify the region’s areas that are best suited for potential future housing.

A second draft map of Montpelier (with the region’s only other designated downtown) is being prepared for further review by the city’s planning and development department.