The Vermont Statutes Online
The Statutes below include the actions of the 2025 session of the General Assembly.
NOTE: The Vermont Statutes Online is an unofficial copy of the Vermont Statutes Annotated that is provided as a convenience.
(Cite as: 19 V.S.A. § 507)
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§ 507. Cattle passes
In its order of condemnation, the court may direct the Agency to install passes under
the highway for the benefit of large modern farm properties, the fee title of which
is owned by any party to the proceedings, where a reasonable need is shown by the
owner. The court may consider evidence relative to present and anticipated future
highway traffic volume, future land development in the area, and the amount and type
of acreage separated by the highway in determining the need for an underpass of larger
dimensions than a standard cattle pass of reinforced concrete, metal, or other suitable
material that provides usable dimensions five feet wide by six feet three inches high.
Where a herd of greater than 50 milking cows is consistently maintained on the property,
the court may direct that the dimensions of the larger underpass shall be eight feet
in width and six feet three inches in height to be constructed of reinforced concrete,
and the owner of the farm property shall pay one-fourth of the difference in overall
cost between the standard cattle pass and the larger underpass. Where the owner of
the farm property desires an underpass of dimensions greater than eight feet in width
and six feet three inches in height, the underpass may be constructed if feasible
and in accordance with acceptable design standards, and the total additional costs
over the dimensions specified shall be paid by the owner. The provisions of this section
shall not be interpreted to prohibit the Agency and the property owner from determining
the specifications of a cattle pass or underpass by mutual agreement at any time,
either prior or subsequent to the date of the court’s order. The owner of a fee title
shall be interpreted to include lessees of so-called lease land. (Added 1985, No. 269 (Adj. Sess.), § 1; amended 1993, No. 172 (Adj. Sess.), § 22; 1995, No. 183 (Adj. Sess.), § 18d, eff. May 22, 1996; 2009, No. 3 (Sp. Sess.), § 1; 2011, No. 126 (Adj. Sess.), § 2.)