Rep. Sheldon to pass environmental baton

REP. AMY SHELDON, D-Middlebury, won’t seek reelection after a 12-year run representing the Addison-1 district in the Vermont House. Independent photo/John S. McCright MIDDLEBURY — When Rep. Amy Sheldon, D-Middlebury, recalls being first elected in 2014 to co-represent the Addison-1 district in the Vermont House, she uses the analogy of a trapeze artist making a trepidatious reach from the stability of a platform to a bar swinging in mid-air. After a dozen years in the Statehouse, during which she’s chaired … (read more)

Act 250, Vermont’s visionary development statute, is over 50 years old. It is often credited as one of the primary reasons that our landscape looks the way it does.

Phil Scott has vetoed a bill that would have updated Act 250, Vermont’s broad land use and development law, over concerns that it would impede efforts to alleviate the state’s severe housing crisis.

The Vermont Senate on Feb. 4 voted to reject an executive order issued by Gov. Phil Scott to restructure the state’s process for reviewing Act 250 land use permits. The order, signed by the governor last month, would give more power to the state’s Natural … (read more)