PROMOTING AFFORDABLE HOUSING

VIA ZONING REFORM

Amy Tomasso is the planning coordinator for Vermont Department of Housing & Community Development.

In Vermont, a pair of energetic planners is creating a new toolbox of affordable housing solutions in one of the nation’s oldest states. 

Amy Tomasso is the planning coordinator and Jacob Hemmerick, AICP, is a community planning & policy manager for Vermont Department of Housing & Community Development.

“We knew we had to do a zoning guide. Local zoning codes in Vermont were stuck on midcentury values with large lots and rules that made it hard to build housing that matched our needs,” Tomasso said.

“We contracted with Congress for the New Urbanism to design a zoning guide called ‘Enabling Better Places: A Zoning Guide for Vermont Neighborhoods’ based on New Urbanist Principles such as complete streets, a mix of uses, and ways of expanding housing opportunities. 

The Vermont Association of REALTORS® (VAR), AARP and others helped fund it.”