§ 4471. Appeal to Environmental Division
(a) Participation required. An interested person who has participated in a municipal regulatory proceeding authorized
under this title may appeal a decision rendered in that proceeding by an appropriate
municipal panel to the Environmental Division. Participation in a local regulatory
proceeding shall consist of offering, through oral or written testimony, evidence
or a statement of concern related to the subject of the proceeding. An appeal from
a decision of the appropriate municipal panel, or from a decision of the municipal
legislative body under subsection 4415(d) of this title, shall be taken in such manner as the Supreme Court may by rule provide for appeals
from State agencies governed by 3 V.S.A. §§ 801-816, unless the decision is an appropriate municipal panel decision which the municipality
has elected to be subject to review on the record.
(b) Appeal on the record. If the municipal legislative body has determined (or been instructed by the voters)
to provide that appeals of certain appropriate municipal panel determinations shall
be on the record, has defined what magnitude or nature of development proposal shall
be subject to the production of an adequate record by the panel, and has provided
that the Municipal Administrative Procedure Act shall apply in these instances, then
an appeal from such a decision of an appropriate municipal panel shall be taken on
the record in accordance with the Vermont Rules of Civil Procedure.
(c) Notice. Notice of the appeal shall be filed by certified mailing, with fees, to the Environmental
Division and by mailing a copy to the municipal clerk or the administrative officer,
if so designated, who shall supply a list of interested persons to the appellant within
five working days. Upon receipt of the list of interested persons, the appellant shall,
by certified mail, provide a copy of the notice of appeal to every interested person,
and, if any one or more of those persons are not then parties to the appeal, upon
motion they shall be granted leave by the Division to intervene.
(d) Local Act 250 review. Notwithstanding the provisions of subsection (a) of this section, decisions of a development
review board under section 4420 of this title, with respect to local Act 250 review of municipal impacts, are not subject to appeal,
but shall serve as presumptions under the provisions of 10 V.S.A. chapter 151.
(e) Designated areas. Notwithstanding subsection (a) of this section, a determination by an appropriate
municipal panel that a residential development will not result in an undue adverse
effect on the character of the area affected shall not be subject to appeal if the
a proposed residential development seeking conditional use approval under subdivision 4414(3) of this title is within a designated downtown development district, designated growth center, or
designated neighborhood development area. Other elements of the determination made
by the appropriate municipal panel may be appealed. (Added 1967, No. 334 (Adj. Sess.), § 1, eff. March 23, 1968; amended 1971, No. 185 (Adj. Sess.), § 205, eff. March 29, 1972; 1973, No. 193 (Adj. Sess.), § 3, eff. April 9, 1974; 1993, No. 232 (Adj. Sess.), § 48, eff. March 15, 1995; 1999, No. 112 (Adj. Sess.), § 1; 2003, No. 115 (Adj. Sess.), § 107; 2007, No. 176 (Adj. Sess.), § 9, eff. May 28, 2008; 2009, No. 154 (Adj. Sess.), § 236; 2015, No. 51, § F.6; 2023, No. 47, § 9, eff. July 1, 2023.)