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An Official Vermont Government Website

Growth Centers

Bennington, Vermont

Growth centers aim to align public infrastructure and private building investments with a local framework of policies and regulations to ensure that 20 years of future development will enhance the vitality of the designated commercial center, while protecting farms, forest, and natural areas outside the growth center.

Effective July 1, 2024, Act 181 of 2024 ended the growth center program's intake of new applications and the requirement for existing designated growth centers to undergo five-year reviews. As an alternative, municipalities may apply for a Neighborhood Development Area (NDA) Designation until December 31, 2025, which is similar to a growth center. Like growth centers, NDAs are an add-on designation to a downtown, village, or new town center, offering many of the same benefits.

Municipalities with an existing growth center may continue to apply for boundary amendments to the Community Investment Board, and all growth centers will transfer into the reformed 'community investment program' upon approval of the regional plan's future land use map by the State Land Use Review Board. The existing growth center designations maintain benefits during this transition period.

Annual Report

Designated Growth Center Records

For the six existing growth centers, designation remains in effect for 20 years after growth center approval.