Planning commission explores zoning change to ensure affordability

Amid Shelburne’s massive bylaw overhaul, the planning commission is exploring what inclusionary zoning requirements could look like for the town.

Rod Francis and Brandy Saxton, consultants with PlaceSense hired by the town, said that inclusionary zoning is a concept that addresses regulatory practices in combination with market forces that can lead to overwhelmingly homogenous neighborhoods that are both expensive and exclude people from low-income households.

“The idea is that you make the development of new residential units responsible for the provision of some number of affordable dwelling units in various forms,” Francis said. “There are plenty of examples, moderately successful in the towns surrounding Shelburne. They are much more commonplace in other parts of the country.”

This form of zoning could be a new way for Shelburne to approach affordable and “missing- middle” housing, a conversation that has remained at the forefront of a bylaw overhaul and was outlined as a top town priority during the three-month community building initiative known as Shelburne Forward Together.

According to the 2023 housing booklet compiled by the town’s housing committee, the median price of primary residences in Shelburne was almost four times higher than in 2000. As of 2022, the median price of a primary home sold in Shelburne was $724,828 — 235 percent higher than the price statewide, and nearly $200,000 higher than new homes in the rest of Chittenden County at $595,881, reads the report.

There were 108 primary residences, including 91 single family and 17 condominiums sold in Shelburne in 2022.

Although this is the first time Shelburne has explored zoning that stipulates affordable housing, the town’s planning director Aaron DeNamur said surrounding towns like Burlington and South Burlington have similar regulations in place. But, he said, inclusionary zoning regulations are not overly common in Vermont.

The current proposal by PlaceSense would require that 10 percent of developed units be classified as affordable housing whenever an applicant is creating 10 or more residential dwelling units or lots. These units would have to meet the definition of affordable housing from state statute and be perpetually affordable.

It also allows for developers to contribute a payment in lieu of constructing affordable units to a theoretical “Shelburne Affordable Housing Trust Fund.”

“I say ‘theoretical’ because no such fund currently exists so this would be a major policy decision for the town,” DeNamur said.

The 10 percent requirement currently outlined is smaller than surrounding towns like South Burlington, whose inclusionary zoning law requires that new housing developments include affordable units totaling 15 percent of the overall number.

“I think this is being considered now because the Shelburne Town Plan clearly encourages the town to pursue these kinds of goals and policies in its housing objectives,” DeNamur said. “Additionally, we are all intimately familiar by now with the ongoing housing emergency in the state, Chittenden County and Shelburne, which has showed no serious signs of improving. The intention would be for this to be another tool to potentially address the crisis.”

While consultants Saxton and Francis explained that inclusionary zoning can increase the base prices of units, other issues that often come into play are the role of the municipality in maintaining and operating inclusionary zoning. Francis said that their draft language would minimize significantly the administrative burden on the town.

“The town is not directly involved in interviewing or reviewing or assessing the eligibility of the households moving into the inclusionary zoning units. That is the responsibility of the developer to provide an annual report,” Francis said.

The planning commission is expected to continue to talk about inclusionary zoning in Shelburne, but the idea already found favor with some commission members.

“I’m really in favor of having this inclusionary zoning,” Stephen Selin, a commission member, said.