§ 6081 - Permits required; exemptions - Vermont Statutes

§ 6081. Permits required; exemptions

(a) No person shall sell or offer for sale any interest in any subdivision located in this state, or commence construction on a subdivision or development, or commence development without a permit. This section shall not prohibit the sale, mortgage or transfer of all, or an undivided interest in all, of a subdivision unless the sale, mortgage or transfer is accomplished to circumvent the purposes of this chapter.

(b) Subsection (a) of this section shall not apply to a subdivision exempt under the regulations of the department of health in effect on January 21, 1970 or any subdivision which has a permit issued prior to June 1, 1970 under the board of health regulations, or has pending a bona fide application for a permit under the regulations of the board of health on June 1, 1970, with respect to plats on file as of June 1, 1970 provided such permit is granted prior to August 1, 1970. Subsection (a) of this section shall not apply to development which is not also a subdivision, which has been commenced prior to June 1, 1970, if the construction will be completed by March 1, 1971. Subsection (a) of this section shall not apply to a state highway on which a hearing pursuant to section 222 of Title 19 has been held prior to June 1, 1970. Subsection (a) of this section shall not apply to any telecommunications facility in existence prior to July 1, 1997, unless that facility is a "development" as defined in subdivision 6001(3) of this title. Subsection (a) of this section shall apply to any substantial change in such excepted subdivision or development.

(c) No permit or permit amendment is required for activities at a solid waste management facility authorized by a provisional certification issued under section 6605d of this title; however, development at such a facility that is beyond the scope of that provisional certification is not exempt from the provisions of this chapter.

(d) For purposes of this section, the following construction of improvements to preexisting municipal, county, or state projects shall not be considered to be substantial changes and shall not require a permit as provided under subsection (a) of this section:

(1) municipal, county, or state wastewater treatment facility enhancements that do not expand the capacity of the facility by more than 25 percent, excluding the extension of a wastewater collection system or an expansion of the service-area boundaries of a wastewater treatment facility.

(2) municipal, county, or state water supply enhancements that do not expand the capacity of the facility by more than 25 percent.

(3) public school reconstruction or expansion that does not expand the student capacity of the school by more than 25 percent.

(4) municipal, county, or state building renovations or reconstruction that does not expand the floor space of the building by more than 25 percent.

(5) construction of improvements to preexisting municipal, county, or state roads and bridges, provided such construction receives funding through the federal American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009, Pub.L. No. 111-5.

(e) For purposes of this section, the replacement of water and sewer lines, as part of a municipality's regular maintenance or replacement of existing facilities, shall not be considered to be substantial changes and shall not require a permit as provided under subsection (a) of this section, provided that the replacement does not expand the capacity of the relevant facility by more than 10 percent.

(f) A permit application for a development for which a certificate of need pursuant to section 6606a of this title is required shall be accompanied by such certificate.

(g) The owners or operators of earth removal sites associated with a landfill closing, other than the landfill site itself, shall obtain a municipal zoning permit in lieu of a permit under this chapter, unless the municipality chooses to refer the matter to the district environmental commission having jurisdiction. At the district commission level, the matter will be treated as a minor application. If municipal zoning bylaws do not exist, the excavation application shall be subject to the provisions of this chapter as a minor application.

(h) No permit or permit amendment is required for closure operations at an unlined landfill which began disposal operations prior to July 1, 1992 and which has been ordered closed under section 6610a or chapter 201 of this title. Closure and post-closure operations covered by this provision are limited to the following on-site operations: final landfill cover system construction and related maintenance operations, water quality monitoring, landfill gas control systems installation and maintenance, erosion control measures, site remediation and general maintenance. Prior to issuing a final order for closure for landfills qualifying for this exemption, a public informational meeting shall be noticed and held by the secretary with public comment accepted on the draft order. The public comment period shall extend no less than seven days before the public meeting and 14 days after the meeting. Public comment related to the public health, water pollution, air pollution, traffic, noise, litter, erosion and visual conditions shall be considered. Landfills with permits in effect under this chapter as of July 1, 1994, shall not qualify for an exemption as described under this section.

(i) The repair or replacement of railroad facilities used for transportation purposes, as part of a railroad's maintenance, shall not be considered to be substantial changes and shall not require a permit as provided under subsection (a) of this section, provided that the replacement or repair does not result in the physical expansion of the railroad's facilities.

(j) With respect to the extraction of slate from a slate quarry that is included in final slate quarry registration documents, if it were removed from a site prior to June 1, 1970, the site from which slate was actually removed, if lying unused at any time after those operations commenced, shall be deemed to be held in reserve, and shall not be deemed to be abandoned.

(k)(1) With respect to the commercial extraction of slate from a slate quarry, activities that are not ancillary to slate mining operations may constitute substantial changes, and be subject to permitting requirements under this chapter. "Ancillary activities" include the following activities that pertain to slate and that take place within a registered parcel that contains a slate quarry: drilling, crushing, grinding, sizing, washing, drying, sawing and cutting stone, blasting, trimming, punching, splitting and gauging, and use of buildings and use and construction of equipment exclusively to carry out the above activities. Buildings that existed on April 1, 1995, or any replacements to those buildings, shall be considered ancillary.

(2) Activities that are ancillary activities that involve crushing, may constitute substantial changes if they may result in significant impact with respect to any of the criteria specified in subdivisions 6086(a)(1) through (10) of this title.

( l )(1) By no later than January 1, 1997, any owner of land or mineral rights or any owner of slate quarry leasehold rights on a parcel of land on which a slate quarry was located as of June 1, 1970, may register the existence of the slate quarry with the district commission and with the clerk of the municipality in which the slate quarry is located, while also providing each with a map which indicates the boundaries of the parcel which contains the slate quarry.

(2) Slate quarry registration shall state the name and address of the owner of the land, mineral rights or leasehold rights; whether that person holds mineral rights, or leasehold rights or is the owner in fee simple; the physical location of the same; the physical location and size of ancillary buildings; and the book and page of the recorded deed or other instrument by which the owner holds title to the land or rights.

(3) Slate quarry registration documents shall be submitted to the district commission together with a request, under the provisions of subsection 6007(c) of this title, for a final determination regarding the applicability of this chapter.

(4) The final determination regarding a slate quarry registration under subsection 6007(c) of this title shall be recorded in the municipal land records at the expense of the registrant along with an accurate site plan of the parcel depicting the site specific information contained in the registration documents.

(5) With respect to a slate quarry located on a particular registered parcel of land, ancillary activities on the parcel related to the extraction and processing of slate into products that are primarily other than crushed stone products shall not be deemed to be substantial changes, as long as the activities do not involve the creation of one or more new slate quarry holes that are not related to an existing slate quarry hole.

(m) No permit is required for the replacement of a preexisting telecommunications facility, in existence prior to July 1, 1997, provided the facility is not a development as defined in subdivision 6001(3) of this title, unless the replacement would constitute a substantial change to the telecommunications facility being replaced, or to improvements ancillary to the telecommunications facility, or both. No permit is required for repair or routine maintenance of a preexisting telecommunications facility or of those ancillary improvements associated with the telecommunications facility.

(n) No permit amendment is required for the replacement of a permitted telecommunications facility unless the replacement would constitute a material or substantial change to the permitted telecommunications facility to be replaced, or to improvements ancillary to the telecommunications facility, or both. No permit is required for repair or routine maintenance of a permitted telecommunications facility or of those ancillary improvements associated with the telecommunications facility.

(o) If a downtown development district designation pursuant to 24 V.S.A. § 2793 is removed, subsection (a) of this section shall apply to any subsequent substantial change to a project that was originally exempt pursuant to subdivision 6001(3)(B) of this title.

(p) No permit or permit amendment is required for any change to a project that is located entirely within a downtown development district designated pursuant to 24 V.S.A. § 2793, if the change consists exclusively of any combination of mixed use and mixed income housing, and the cumulative changes within any continuous period of five years, commencing on or after the effective date of this subsection, remain below the jurisdictional threshold specified in subdivision 6001(3)(B) of this title.

(q) For the purposes of reviewing any combination of electrical distribution and communications lines and subsidiary facilities that, standing alone, constitutes a development for purposes of this chapter, the actual and potential impacts considered by the board or district commission under subsection 6086(a) of this title shall not include actual or potential impacts of the construction of other improvements to be served by those lines and subsidiary facilities.

(r) In situations in which the construction of improvements for any combination of electrical distribution and communications lines and subsidiary facilities, standing alone, constitutes a development subject to the jurisdiction of the board or district commission under this chapter, subsequent construction of improvements for any combination of electrical distribution and communications lines and subsidiary facilities not identified or reasonably identifiable at the time construction commences, standing alone, shall be considered new construction of improvements and shall not be considered a material or substantial change to that previously permitted development.

(s)(1) No permit amendment is required for farming that:

(A) will occur on primary agricultural soils preserved in accordance with section 6093 of this title; or

(B) will not conflict with any permit condition issued pursuant to this chapter.

(2) Permits shall include a statement that farming is permitted on lands exempt from amendment jurisdiction under this subsection. (Added 1969, No. 250 (Adj. Sess.), §§ 6, 7, subsec. (a), eff. June 1, 1970, subsec. (b), eff. April 4, 1970; amended 1989, No. 218 (Adj. Sess.), § 2; No. 276 (Adj. Sess.), §§ 17a, 17b, eff. June 20, 1990; No. 282 (Adj. Sess.), § 7, eff. June 22, 1990; 1991, No. 256 (Adj. Sess.), § 30, eff. June 9, 1992; 1993, No. 200 (Adj. Sess.), § 2; No. 208 (Adj. Sess.), § 4; 1995, No. 30, § 2, eff. April 13, 1995; 1999, No. 93 (Adj. Sess.), §§ 1, 2; 2001, No. 114 (Adj. Sess.), § 7c, eff. May 28, 2002; 2003, No. 133 (Adj. Sess.), § 1; 2007, No. 38, § 15, eff. May 21, 2007; 2009, No. 54, § 53, eff. June 1, 2009.)