The Developer Goes To The Capital
Talking housing policy with the Governor at his weekly press conference.
Hey — Jonah here. This is Brick + Mortar where I talk about the acquisition, financing, design, construction, and operations of small-scale real estate development projects.
If you asked me two years ago when I started developing real estate where I saw myself today, I wouldn’t have said—joining the Governor at a press conference to talk housing policy.
But here we are.
Four of us joined VT Governor Phil Scott last week to discuss S.100, a proposed housing bill working its way through the Senate. And what would happen if it doesn’t pass as originally written.
Here’s a link to my three minutes of fame. And one to the full press conference if you’re feeling ambitious.
I would say the Governor and I are boys now but he just kept calling me “The Developer” the whole time.
Everyone else’s names he knew. But me? The Developer.
We’re working on it.
Anyhow, some background—there's a piece of land use legislation in Vermont called Act 250. Its purpose is to help ensure "development compliments Vermont’s unique landscape, economy, and community needs."
In reality, this means more hoops for developers to jump through. Which, in the interest of preventing rural sprawl, I get.
Inadvertently, though—it stifles the creation of small-scale projects (think triplexes, cottage courts, etc) through something called the 10-5-5 rule. That is, if a developer creates 10 or more housing units in a 5-mile radius in 5 years, they trigger an Act 250 review.
This is a complicated process that can get costly. And small-scale developers like myself just don't have the capacity to take this on.
S.100 (as originally written) introduced an expansion of the 10-5-5 rule to allow for up to 25 units in the same timeframe. But the Senate Committee on Natural Resources does not seem willing to push this forward.
This press conference was, in part, meant to convey that S.100 (including an updated 25-5-5 rule) would help catalyze new housing development without sacrificing the critical components working to keep Vermont... well, Vermont.
Let’s see what happens.
Until next time.
— Jonah 🧱
P.S. Want to connect? Find me on LinkedIn.