Regional Planning
Act 181 directs Vermont’s 11 Regional Planning Commissions to rewrite their Future Land Use (FLU) maps and likewise to rewrite the accompanying written Regional Plans that include goals, recommendations, and policies developed in consultation with local town administrations, after a public comment period and upon approval by the newly created Land Use Review Board.
*Check out our Act 250 + Act 181 page for more background.
As of September 2026, approval of the updated Regional Plans is still in progress, and many public comment periods have not started.
The FLU maps will indicate which areas are planned for which type of zoning and land use policy, what type of development is projected, and the degree of Act 250 environmental review that applies in different areas. Town-level planning commissions in each town will also rewrite their Town Plans (and amend or adopt various Ordinances over time), which often reference and incorporate the regional plans; these Town Plans (and Ordinances) are the legally enforceable ones.
Areas designated for working lands in FLU maps don’t have real protections from sprawl development (low-density residential) that accounts for over 83% of all agricultural land loss, according to American Farmland Trust statistics (see slide 15 here). Furthermore, these areas represent combined Agriculture & Forestry and do not distinguish between the two, so they have no mechanism to show where agriculture exists, where it might be at what kind of conversion risk (housing development, flooding, retirement or succession), or where soil should be protected for farming into the future. Unlike for housing development, Vermont currently has no specific numeric goal or policy to support its agenda to increase local self-reliance in food consumption through local food production in acres.
Consequently, the ongoing rewrite of all Regional Plans may contribute more to farmland loss than gain, and also have impacts on where On Farm Accessory Business (AOFBs) may be operated. [Infobox: Accessory On-Farm Businesses (AOFBs) are commercial businesses that diversify farm income from other land uses related to promoting the present farming activity. AOFBs are defined differently than “farming”. When originally passed, Act 143 applied to your town’s zoning only, not Act 250. In 2024 and 2026, the legislature worked on expanding Act 250 exemptions from Act 250 for all types of AOFBs. While Accessory On-Farm Businesses now do receive the Act 250 exemption, they may be subject to barriers in regional plans or a town ordinance.]
For example, the Two Rivers-Ottauquechee Regional Commission’s (TRORC) draft land use chapter (the largest regional plan for Vermont) includes a policy for agricultural areas that AOFBs “shall not host more than twenty social events (concerts, weddings, etc.) a year, generate daily truck traffic, or be principal retail.” Rural Vermont encourages participation in the regional planning process and in reviewing land use plans and maps.