§ 4413 - Limitations on municipal bylaws
§ 4413. Limitations on municipal bylaws
(a) The following uses may be regulated only with respect to location, size, height, building bulk, yards, courts, setbacks, density of buildings, off-street parking, loading facilities, traffic, noise, lighting, landscaping, and screening requirements, and only to the extent that regulations do not have the effect of interfering with the intended functional use:
(1) State- or community-owned and operated institutions and facilities.
(2) Public and private schools and other educational institutions certified by the state department of education.
(3) Churches and other places of worship, convents, and parish houses.
(4) Public and private hospitals.
(5) Regional solid waste management facilities certified under 10 V.S.A. chapter 159.
(6) Hazardous waste management facilities for which a notice of intent to construct has been received under 10 V.S.A. § 6606a.
(b) A bylaw under this chapter shall not regulate public utility power generating plants and transmission facilities regulated under 30 V.S.A. § 248.
(c) Except as otherwise provided by this section and by 10 V.S.A. § 1976, if any bylaw is enacted with respect to any land development that is subject to regulation under state statutes, the more stringent or restrictive regulation applicable shall apply.
(d) A bylaw under this chapter shall not regulate accepted agricultural and silvicultural practices, including the construction of farm structures, as those practices are defined by the secretary of agriculture, food and markets or the commissioner of forests, parks and recreation, respectively, under subsections 1021(f) and 1259(f) of Title 10 and section 4810 of Title 6.
(1) For purposes of this section, "farm structure" means a building, enclosure, or fence for housing livestock, raising horticultural or agronomic plants, or carrying out other practices associated with accepted agricultural or farming practices, including a silo, as "farming" is defined in subdivision 6001(22) of Title 10, but excludes a dwelling for human habitation.
(2) A person shall notify a municipality of the intent to build a farm structure and shall abide by setbacks approved by the secretary of agriculture, food and markets. No municipal permit for a farm structure shall be required.
(3) A municipality may enact a bylaw that imposes forest management practices resulting in a change in a forest management plan for land enrolled in the use value appraisal program pursuant to 32 V.S.A. chapter 124 only to the extent that those changes are silviculturally sound, as determined by the commissioner of forests, parks and recreation, and protect specific natural, conservation, aesthetic, or wildlife features in properly designated zoning districts. These changes also must be compatible with 32 V.S.A. § 3755.
(e) A bylaw enacted under this chapter shall be subject to the restrictions created under section 2295 of this title, with respect to the limits on municipal power to regulate hunting, fishing, trapping, and other activities specified under that section.
(f) This section shall apply in every municipality, notwithstanding any existing bylaw to the contrary.
(g) Notwithstanding any provision of law to the contrary, a bylaw adopted under this chapter shall not prohibit or have the effect of prohibiting the installation of solar collectors, clotheslines, or other energy devices based on renewable resources. (Added 2003, No. 115 (Adj. Sess.), § 95; amended 2009, No. 45, § 15c, eff. May 27, 2009.)