9.1. Abutting Regional Planning Commissions

Introduction
As required by 24 V.S.A. § 4348a(8), regional plans must contain a statement indicating
how the regional plan relates to development trends, needs and plans, and regional plans for
adjacent municipalities and regions.

This section provides an initial look at how the Addison Region fits into a wider network.
The section is complemented by the ongoing work each RPC does in the areas of town
planning, transportation planning and emergency management and by the communications
the organizations engage in with each other at the Vermont Planning and Development
Agency (VAPDA) and other professional organizations.

Chittenden County Regional Planning Commission
Chittenden County Regional Planning Commission (CCRPC) abuts ACRPC to the north.
In many ways, the northernmost ACRPC towns of Ferrisburgh and Monkton, and to a lesser
extent Starksboro, already function partially as bedroom communities for the greater
Burlington area. Because of this, all three towns are quite concerned about patterns of
growth, and the costs associated with development, especially residential development.

Future land uses in Buels Gore, Huntington, Hinesburg, and Charlotte as shown on the
Chittenden RPC future land use plan map, indicate that all areas abutting Addison County
fall in the rural planning area. The Chittenden County Regional Plan calls for land in this
area to remain primarily in the working landscape. Goals for this area include: Promoting
uses in the area including recreation, conservation, agriculture, silviculture and resource
extraction industries; Encourage small scale residential clustered development through the
use of PRDs; Providing opportunities for commercial services designed in concert with the
overall characteristics of the Rural Planning Area and Promoting and supporting efforts to
develop more dynamic methods for providing financial support to landowner conservation
efforts.

The ACRPC plan map depicts mostly forest district in the mountains and medium density
residential agricultural districts in Monkton and Ferrisburgh. Accordingly, the Addison
County Plan allows somewhat more residential density in the area than does the Chittenden
Plan. However, the ACRPC plan recognizes that agriculture is still an important industry and
way of life in the Addison Region and promotes the use of clustered development in these
areas to preserve farmland. Development will also be limited by clay soils in areas west of
Route 7, which will keep densities lower.

The Lewis Creek watershed forms much of the boundary of the two planning areas.
While neither plan recognizes the entire watershed as a significant regional resource, the
ACRPC plan supports riparian buffers along streams for use as wildlife corridors and to
prevent erosion. ACRPC works regularly with the Lewis Creek Association and urges a
cooperative effort between the towns, the Lewis Creek Conservation Commission and both
RPCs in planning for the watershed.

The RPCs, the affected municipalities and the Agency of Transportation are working
together on an access management/corridor management plan for the Route 7 corridor.

Rutland Regional Commission
Rutland Regional Commission (RRC), located to the south of the Addison Region,
classifies nearly all land abutting the Addison Region in the towns of Chittenden, Brandon
and Sudbury as within its Rural Planning Area. The Rutland Plan notes that the Rural
Planning Area consists of a mixed land use pattern of residential development, small
commercial enterprises, outdoor recreation, forestry and agricultural uses. Goals for the Rural
Planning Area include: Maintaining agricultural, forestry and extraction uses; low density,
but clustered residential development, encouraging small scale businesses that do not conflict
with forestry uses; discouraging major retail or service uses and supporting the right to farm.

In Addison County, the future land use map depicts forestry conservation uses in the east
and low-density residential agricultural districts in the west, thus roughly corresponding with
the uses allowed in Rutland’s rural districts.

Both regions share Otter Creek, which is a regionally significant water resource in the
ACRPC plan. Both regions and the riparian towns are working jointly to create a Basin Plan
for the entire Otter Creek Basin.

Two-Rivers Ottaquechee and Central Vermont RPCs
To the east, ACRPC abuts both the Two-Rivers Ottaquechee RPC and the Central
Vermont RPC along the ridge of the Green Mountains. Land use policies in all three plans
support forest and conservation uses with limited residential use in these areas due to their
steep terrain, existing forest resources (both public and private), and to the limited and
difficult vehicular access to much of the area.