The Vermont Statutes Online

Title 24 Appendix : Municipal Charters

Chapter 127 : Town of Middlebury

Subchapter 001 : Powers of the Town of Middlebury

• § 104. Additional powers

  The general grant of authority in section 103 of this charter shall include the following:

  (1) To adopt and enforce ordinances relating to the installation of new water lines, new sewer lines, and equipment necessary for their operation, requiring the installation of such improvements in a manner specified as a condition precedent to the issuing of a building permit under any Town ordinance and requiring the apportionment of part or all the cost of such improvements against property owners benefiting thereby. Special assessments shall constitute a lien on the property against which the assessment is made in the same manner and to the same extent as taxes assessed on the grand list of the Town, and all procedures and remedies for the collection of taxes shall apply to special assessments.

  (2) To adopt and enforce police ordinances regulating or prohibiting the use of firearms, air rifles, and devices having a capacity to inflict personal injury and the parking, operation, and speed of vehicles of any kind upon Town and State aid streets and highways, private and public property, and to regulate or prohibit any activities constituting a hazard to the safety or health of the public.

  (3) To adopt and enforce ordinances relating to the prevention of pollution of air, land, streams, ponds, and other waterways within the Town.

  (4) To adopt and enforce ordinances relating to the cleaning or repair of any premises that, in the judgment of the Selectboard, is dangerous to the health, welfare, or safety of the public.

  (5) To adopt and enforce ordinances relating to regulation, licensing, or prohibition of the storage and accumulation of garbage, ashes, rubbish, refuse, and waste materials; regulation of the removal and disposal of such materials; licensing for revenue and regulation or prohibition of the collection, removal, and disposal of such materials by contract or by a Town officer or department now existing or created for that purpose; establishment of service rates to be paid the Town for such service.

  (6) To adopt and enforce ordinances prohibiting and punishing willful injuries to trees planted for shade, ornament, convenience, or use, public and private, and to prevent and punish trespassing or willful injuries to or upon public or private buildings, property, or lands.

  (7) To adopt and enforce ordinances relating to codes for building construction, including also wiring and plumbing.

  (8) To adopt and enforce ordinances relating to fire prevention and control.

  (9) To adopt and enforce ordinances relating to the use, protection, care, and management of all public recreation facilities of the Town.

  (10) To adopt, amend, repeal, and enforce ordinances relating to the prevention of riots, noises, nuisances, disturbances, and disorderly assembly and to provide for the enforcement of penalties for violation or nonperformance.

  (11) To adopt and enforce ordinances establishing regulations for signs and billboards.

  (12) To adopt and enforce an ordinance related to a special assessment district; such an ordinance can be considered by the Selectboard only when the request is made by a petition signed by the owners of two-thirds of the parcels of real property within the proposed district. If a parcel of land is owned by more than one person, only one person shall sign on behalf of the owners of the parcel. Such petition shall define the boundaries of the district, the purpose for which the assessment is to be levied, and the proposed costs and duration of the levy. In addition to the required notification in subsection 107(a) of this charter, each affected property owner within the proposed district shall be notified by certified mail of the proposed ordinance or any amendments thereto prior to any public hearing held.

  (13) The enumeration of powers herein shall not be deemed to limit the general grant of authority to adopt ordinances conferred by section 103 of this charter. (Amended 2015, No. 23, § 127.)