Section 4-C:27 Program Administration; Eligible Technical Assistance.
I. The program shall award matching grants to fund technical assistance activities in the development and implementation of a growth and development strategy. The 4 specific stages of activities are as follows:
(a) Stage 1: Natural and Historic Resource and Housing Data Gathering and Analysis. This stage includes:
(1) Understanding and mapping housing, income, and demographic data, including housing market costs, housing units needed to meet future expected growth in a municipality and the region, and the affordability of a municipality's housing for all income ranges.
(2) Mapping land use values, including conservation, soils, wetlands, working forests, farmlands, and other natural resources.
(3) Developing a build-out analysis of growth and development impacts on housing availability and natural resources.
(4) Mapping historic structures and buildings within communities.
(b) Stage 2: Development of the Growth and Development Strategy. This stage includes:
(1) Drafting and endorsing a growth and development strategy to guide future growth, including using land more efficiently and encouraging compact development and reuse of suitable historic and existing structures. The growth and development strategy would also identify specific areas to be conserved and to be developed.
(2) Engaging in a public process to develop the growth and development strategy.
(c) Stage 3: Integration of Growth and Development Strategy into the Master Plan. This stage includes:
(1) Auditing the existing master plan to identify portions that conflict with or pose a barrier to achieving the growth and development strategy.
(2) Rewriting or amending the master plan so that it can realistically implement the growth and development strategy.
(3) Adopting the revised master plan.
(d) Stage 4: Implementation into Regulatory Framework. This stage includes:
(1) Auditing existing municipal ordinances, including zoning, site-plan, and subdivision regulations, to identify conflicts with the growth and development strategy and the revised master plan.
(2) Rewriting and amending municipal ordinances, including zoning, site-plan, and subdivision regulations, to allow for the realistic implementation of growth and development strategy and the new master plan.
(3) Drafting and adopting new articles that incorporate new tools to accomplish the growth and development strategy, including transfer of development rights, density bonuses, cluster development, and inclusionary zoning.
(4) Adopting the needed amendments to municipal ordinances.
II. Each stage shall require that:
(a) Municipalities address housing and conservation together in an integrated manner.
(b) Municipalities engage in a communication and education process that will promote informed decision-making and communicate with and educate citizens regarding the work being undertaken in each stage of the process.
III. Municipalities may be awarded technical assistance for only one stage at a time but may apply and obtain funding for each successive stage. Funding for future stages shall require a demonstration that the previous stage was accomplished in a manner consistent with the principles of the program. Such a showing shall also result in a priority for additional funding.
IV. Municipalities' initial applications for funding need not start with the first stage in the process. However, to begin with a later stage, an initial application shall demonstrate prior completion of the previous stage's work in a manner consistent with the program principles.
Source. 2007, 348:1, eff. July 1, 2007.