Poultney’s Unified Bylaws

~ 2024 Update ~

The Poultney Planning Commission held a public hearing at the Poultney Fire Station located at 55 Firehouse Lane, Poultney, VT 05764 on Wednesday, October 16, 2024 at 6:00 p.m to consider for approval and submission to the Selectboard updated Unified Bylaws. The geographic area affected by the Unified Bylaws is the entire Town of Poultney. The primary purpose of this bylaw update is to conform with the HOME Act, enacted in 2023, which required municipal zoning bylaws to have specific provisions intended to increase housing opportunity, particularly in areas served by water and sewer infrastructure.

A physical copy of the Unified Bylaws is available for public review at the Poultney Town Clerk’s office. An electronic copy of the Unified Bylaws may also be obtained below, or via email, by submitting a request to poultneymanager(at)comcast.net.

At the close of the hearing, the Planning Commission motioned to forward the drafted Unified Bylaws to the Selectboard for their review and adoption.

Brief Explanation of the Proposed Amendment

The proposed bylaw is a top-down update with numerous facets. The primary purpose of this update is to conform with the HOME Act, enacted in 2023, which required municipal zoning bylaws to have specific provisions intended to increase housing opportunity, particularly in areas served by water and sewer infrastructure.

The Planning Commission made other changes in line with bylaw modernization, simplified dated and overly complicated regulations, restructured the document to better serve citizens, made updates to conform with the 2022 Poultney Town Plan, and addressed issues that had been flagged by the Zoning Administrator, Development Review Board, and citizens.

History of the Bylaw Modernization Project

In 2021, the Town of Poultney was awarded a Bylaw Modernization grant to prepare updates to the Unified Bylaws primarily focused on boundaries, uses, dimensional standards, definitions, and other elements in the village’s zoning districts to support revitalization, increased housing choice and affordability and pedestrian-oriented development patterns.

Work on this project commenced in 2022 with assistance from the Rutland Regional Planning Commission. For more information, download the Enabling Better Places: A Zoning Guide for Vermont Neighborhoods.

Poultney Unified Bylaws

The Town of Poultney Unified Bylaws was last amended by the Planning Commission and adopted by the Selectboard on May 9, 2022. These bylaws contain regulations for Zoning, Flood Hazard Areas and Subdivisions.