Poultney’s Unified Bylaws
The Town of Poultney adopted the most recent Unified Bylaws on December 16, 2024. The primary purpose of this update was 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.
Brief Explanation of the Unified Bylaws Update
The 2024 Unified Bylaws was prepared as a top-down update with numerous facets. The primary purpose of this update was 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.