Gov. Phil Scott has signed an executive order that is meant to speed the construction of new housing by streamlining permitting and rolling back climate regulations.
At his weekly press conference on Wednesday, Scott said he was taking the sweeping action because, despite paying lip service to the issue, lawmakers had failed to take significant enough steps to reduce the red tape that slows homebuilding and increases costs that contribute to the state’s housing affordability crisis.
“For years I’ve sounded the alarm about the housing shortage in Vermont,” Scott said. “Despite many agreeing, we haven’t done anywhere near enough to make a real dent in the number of homes we need.”
The sweeping set of new rules are meant to help developers build the 40,000 new homes the state is forecast to need by 2030.
The changes affect everything from energy efficiency requirements to wetland setbacks to faster appeals processes. The 10-page order goes into effect immediately and will remain in place through the end of 2027.
“This will make a real difference immediately,” said Alex Farrell, commissioner of the Department of Housing and Community Development.
The regulatory changes are a recognition that the state “can’t buy our way out” of the housing crisis and need to find ways to reduce the hurdles and high costs that home builders in Vermont face, Farrell said. He called the changes a “series of significant steps to improve the environment for building homes in the state of Vermont.”
One major change involves rolling back the energy efficiency standards in the 2024 building code. Those requirements will now become voluntary, and builders now will only be required to meet the 2020 efficiency code.
That change alone could save builders big bucks. Complying with the 2024 energy code costs around $12,000 more than the previous version, according to Jason Webster, co-owner of Huntington Homes.
Higher requirements for home insulation is one of the many changes that increased the costs, Webster said.
“When we build new housing, we’re balancing lots of priorities. Energy is just one of them,” Webster said at Wednesday’s press conference.
Other changes include eliminating the need for builders to get permits for certain unmapped wetlands and reducing the setbacks from wetlands from 50 feet to 25 feet. Such buffers are meant to preserve wildlife habitat, improve water quality and reduce flood risk.
The state is also going to take an inventory of state-owned lands to see if any are suitable for housing, and then speed up the process for selling them to developers if appropriate, Farrell said.
The new rules will also require certain building permits to be issued within a specific time frame. If they’re not, the permits will be approved by default.
In a statement, House Democrats said that while they were not alerted to the executive order before Scott signed it, “we are encouraged to see the Governor join us in recognizing the need for urgent action.
“In the days ahead, we will carefully review the order to ensure it reflects Vermonters’ values and priorities while protecting our environment,” the statement said.
Read the entire executive order below: