An important story in today’s Addison Independent outlines an effort by county planners to boost the area’s housing supply.

According to a state assessment, Vermont needs to expand its housing stock by 79,000-172,000 homes by 2050. That’s an annual average of 3,160 to 6,880 homes per year compared to an average of 1,178 homes built annually between 2010-2020.

Addison County’s share of that increase would be 4,103 to 8,088 homes by 2050. Middlebury’s goal would be to add 1,214 home units by 2050. Bristol’s goal is 715, with 462 set for Vergennes, 461 in Ferrisburgh and 367 in Monkton. Tiny Goshen has a goal of 30 new homes. (In numbers easier to gasp, the draft plan also has a five-year goal per town: Middlebury would need to add 326 homes; Bristol 192, and the target for Ferrisburgh and Vergennes would be 124 each.)

Each county town’s target goal and draft land use map can be found online, as noted in John Flowers’ story on Page 1A. This is all being updated in the county’s regional plan by the Addison County Regional Planning Commission in tandem with local residents and town leaders.

The goals are aspirational, not set quotas, but the reasoning behind the effort is as crucial as the goals themselves. Vermont has a housing crisis that is the root problem to affordability. We can’t solve the latter without first tackling housing. The sooner we start and the more effective we are, the better off we’ll all be.

Angelo Lynn