Vermont State Archives and Records Administration: Land Use Survey Results

Town	t/z	14
Arlington	t	I think it would be easier for title searchers to have the zoning filings located where they are secure but accessible. For instance, here it is for searchers because the land use administrator’s office is not open during my hours. Maybe the planning files should be kept with the land records so that they would be accessible when the land records are.
Benson	t	Town only has driveways permits started in 1974. Have started recording them in land records.
Berlin	t	I feel very strongly that zoning permits should not have to be recorded as long as they are indexed in the land records & filed so they are available for anyone to see - If they have to be recorded, the Land Records would fill up so fast that we’d all run out of vault space.
Brandon	z	Currently by recording allow permits in the land records, I am duplicating all permits. Or records are available to review in their entirety, indexed by tax map #. Towns our size should not have to have double & triple paperwork in the same office building. Most researcher want to look at the entire file anyway which includes the permit that was recorded.
Brattleboro	z	You may want to consider a standardized permit memo format for filing in town records. I do not issue letters indicating that a property is not in violation. To do so would require a thorough site inspection, inside and out. I do issue letters indicating that there are no ongoing enforcement proceedings.
Calais	t/z	It is redundant to have a book AND a card in the file in addition to the actual permit - wouldn't the card suffice? we're slowly sinking under piles of paper....
Derby Center Village		Title searchers do not check with village for water & sewer permits and often forget to check for delinquent taxes, water or sewer charges.
Duxbury	t	I don't like the extra work. It won't take long for the card index file to be too full.
Essex Town	z	It is our opinion the legislature should pass a bill taking the situation back to the status quo pre Bianchi decision. The few zoning or other permit violations that are brought to light by the process or the very few legal suits avoided in no way justify the enormous expense borne by municipalities and property buyers and sellers/owners.
Franklin	t	I am only a small town (1,068 ppl) clerk, but find this mandate very time consuming and cumbersome. I was keeping all the building permits, septic permits, sub-division permits, and driveway permits in a loose-leaf binder by year. In the front of every year I maintained an alphabetical index of the landowner. It was very easy to find the permit requested without all the extra work. Since we have only a part-time zoning administrator, all of the record keeping has fallen on my shoulders. I even hear the attorney’s grumbling about this nightmare. You should also have guessed that I do not receive fees for recording therefore I do not agree with the recording of these permits.
Granville	t	Granville is a small community with minimum development and building. We have not experienced any inconvenience due to "Bianchi".
Hinesburg	z	We have a pretty good workable system.
Irasburg	t	We are thankful here in Irasburg (in the Northeast Kingdom) not to have zoning. Many of us feel it is a violation of freedom. The idea of paying to get permission to do something to your own property and applying to someone who is no better than you are, can go against this grain. Since a person owns property and pays taxes on it, he or she should be able to add a deck or paint a house the color they want to. Lawyers and paralegals are always thankful to hear there is no zoning here. It makes their job easier.
Jericho	z	I feel that recording all land use permits in the land records is a waste of my time and also fills up valuable space in the vault. Every person searching title ends up in the zoning office to check the status of permits. We keep the original copies of permits & plans and is easily searchable on the database. Recording permits is not only a burden on the Planning and Zoning Office and the Town Clerk, it is an additional cost that the permitees have to pay.
Lyndon	z	The major cost the town of Lyndon has seen comes from staff time, all the extra recording, protecting records because of increased use as well as increased time spent helping lawyers (and bankers) complete title searches.
Manchester	z	Long letter from Planning Director
Marlboro	t	Over the time since Bianchi I have "called in" as much of this info as possible. I’m still working on getting packets of records that remain in the homes of the hardworking, part-time and sometimes volunteer officers who have done the zoning, planning commission and ZBA and septic permit work over the years.
Mendon	z	I am trying to get all files index by land number instead of all the various names of owners.
Milton	p	We would be very interested in any information you can provide on computer programs that do indexing etc.
Moretown	z	I am also an attorney w/a residential real estate practice, so I know the importance of adequate indexing. Would be nice if there were a uniform system by parcel ID or some other method which relates permits to property - rather than to owners, applicants, or date of issue (as is the case in most towns in which I search). All permit records - ZBA, PC, Building, Health & Curb Cuts - should be filed together. Where there is an overall "development" the "development" permits for planning comm/zba, curb cuts should be in a "development" file for the project and each parcel within a development should have it’s own sub-file.
Morristown	t	I use File Maker Pro as it is easy and fast. We can sort by any of the fields.
Newbury	z	May eventually require add'l vault space be added. Zoning records previously not kept in the vault but are now. Increased recording requires add’l time from town clerk and space in land records. Recording has increased dramatically and books are filling up at a faster & faster rate.
Proctor	z	A database program should be developed for use by municipality. This would be a lot easier and faster to search than indexing and increasing the number property record books.
Roxbury	t	Roxbury has a sewage ordinance - The permits issued under this ordinance are the only records in anyway related to Act 46. Those are available from the town clerk during office hours. So far we have had no requests for research of copies of these documents.
St. Albans City	z	After Bianchi case and the state's first mandate to record permits, etc., we did a major reorganization of our files and systems. We have a good system and have passed our forms on to other towns at their request. I would hate to have this changed once again and have to start over. If towns have done what they should have the first time around, things would be running smoothly - they are here.
Shaftsbury	z	The Bianchi search is providing to be a valuable effort to buyers. We've had cases where our search prevented problems for the buyer. Recommend added bits of info be included in the search such as district, permitted and conditional uses allowed in those districts. Its working well in Shaftsbury.
Townshend	t	Townshend has a septic compliance officer who follows thru on septic applications which are recorded along with driveway access permits in the land records. These files are accessible thru the Town Clerk.
Vershire	t	Everyone seems to be happy with our system when they come in for a title search. The town clerk records a memorandum for the permit and files the original by map and lot. All permits are kept in the same file so when someone needs to see a permit, we pull one file on that map & lot, and it has everything in it no matter who owned the property at any time. Our town administrator is happy with keeping copies.
Weybridge	t	Possibly provide grants for developing an index for older records.
Wheelock	t	Although I do not have to deal with zoning, I have had to find, make available and developed a procedure to properly track & record access permits. It has taken time - VLCT has been great at keeping clerks trained and updated on this issue. That training has helped me a lot.
Williston	t	We don't record actual permits - only a notice of permit that the Z.A. gives us after he has issued a permit. They really aren’t very helpful - they don’t have much information on them. We don’t have space in our vault to store any of their records - they are under their control completely.
Williston	z	How about repealing this Act?
Windsor		The state should have provided all towns with extra money & assistance so that offices would be up and running at the same time. Ours is still only o.k. We have 4 to 6 types of applications/permits that should be filed at an additional fee of $28.00 to $42.00 for each person. That is ridiculous. I am certain not everything is filed to date because I only filed zoning permits for a long time.

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