As of May 27, 2009, electrical generation and transmission facilities may not be regulated through zoning if those facilities require a certificate of public good pursuant to 30 V.S.A. § 248. So, one may be able to install a wind-turbine or solar array without the need apply for zoning permit.
§ 4413. Limitations on municipal bylaws
(a) The following uses may be regulated only with respect to location, size, height, building bulk, yards, courts, setbacks, density of buildings, off-street parking, loading facilities, traffic, noise, lighting, landscaping, and screening requirements, and only to the extent that regulations do not have the effect of interfering with the intended functional use:
(1) State- or community-owned and operated institutions and facilities.
(2) Public and private schools and other educational institutions certified by the state department of education.
(3) Churches and other places of worship, convents, and parish houses.
(4) Public and private hospitals.
(5) Regional solid waste management facilities certified under 10 V.S.A. chapter 159.
(6) Hazardous waste management facilities for which a notice of intent to construct has been received under 10 V.S.A. § 6606a.
(b) A bylaw under this chapter shall not regulate public utility power generating plants and transmission facilities regulated under 30 V.S.A. § 248.
(c) Except as otherwise provided by this section and by 10 V.S.A. § 1976, if any bylaw is enacted with respect to any land development that is subject to regulation under state statutes, the more stringent or restrictive regulation applicable shall apply.
(d) A bylaw under this chapter shall not regulate accepted agricultural and silvicultural practices, including the construction of farm structures, as those practices are defined by the secretary of agriculture, food and markets or the commissioner of forests, parks and recreation, respectively, under subsections 1021(f) and 1259(f) of Title 10 and section 4810 of Title 6.
(1) For purposes of this section, “farm structure” means a building, enclosure, or fence for housing livestock, raising horticultural or agronomic plants, or carrying out other practices associated with accepted agricultural or farming practices, including a silo, as “farming” is defined in subdivision 6001(22) of Title 10, but excludes a dwelling for human habitation.
(2) A person shall notify a municipality of the intent to build a farm structure and shall abide by setbacks approved by the secretary of agriculture, food and markets. No municipal permit for a farm structure shall be required.
(3) 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 commissioner of forests, parks and recreation, and protect specific natural, conservation, aesthetic, or wildlife features in properly designated zoning districts. These changes also must be compatible with 32 V.S.A. § 3755.
(e) A bylaw enacted under this chapter shall be subject to the restrictions created under section 2295 of this title, with respect to the limits on municipal power to regulate hunting, fishing, trapping, and other activities specified under that section.
(f) This section shall apply in every municipality, notwithstanding any existing bylaw to the contrary.
(g) Notwithstanding any provision of law to the contrary, a bylaw adopted under this chapter shall not prohibit or have the effect of prohibiting the installation of solar collectors, clotheslines, or other energy devices based on renewable resources. (Added 2003, No. 115 (Adj. Sess.), § 95; amended 2009, No. 45, § 15c, eff. May 27, 2009.)
Vermont League of Cities and Towns
Junk Mail
The Vermont legislature considered enacting junk mail legislation so that VT residents could choose not to be a part of the waste stream. Sadly, the legislature buckled under pressure of the junk mail lobbyists who claimed that jobs would be lost as a result of the legislation. While Vermont could be creating jobs greening up our state, instead the legislature has decided to create jobs by polluting Vermont.
Recently I received some pretty disgusting junk mail from some so called Saint Mathew’s Church in Oklahoma, and I discovered a way to opt out of junk mail on case by case basis: USPS Form 1500. This form tells the USPS not to send any mail from the offending company. Form 1500 must not be used much because the neither the clerk nor the manager had seen it before. While the form is designed to stop the receipt of unwanted pornography, the supreme court in Rowan v. USPS stated that only the addressee can determine what they believe is pornographic. If a person feels a dry-goods catalog is pornographic, then they can request it not be sent. The junk mail from Saint Mathew’s Church in Oklahoma is certainly worse than any dry-goods catalog.
While looking for ways to curb my junk mail I ran across Ecofuture.com which has an interesting page discussing reasons to use a temporary change of address form rather than a permanent form.
Some ugly facts about junk mail: The average American receives 41 pounds of junk mail each year. Almost half –44%– of the junk mail ends up in a landfill. Almost $320 million in tax money is used to dispose of junk mail, and more than 100 million trees a year are used to create pulpwood for paper products–that’s like deforesting the Rocky Mountain National Park every 4 months.