By Tony Marquis, Standard Staff
Last year, the Two-Rivers Ottauquechee Regional Commission used its 10-member staff to help its 30 towns navigate complicated state regulations.
TRORC managed the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s home buyout program from Tropical Storm Irene, it conducted several transportation and environmental studies. It approved some town plans and helped others draft theirs.
It’s become a large organization, managing a $4.3 million budget last year, according to a 2015 audit.
“I see this as a positive thing that has evolved over the years,” said Don Bourdon, who was TRORC’s first executive director when the commission was formed in 1975. ”But it’s taken a while to get there.”
Not everyone sees the growth of TRORC as a positive.
Scott Milne, a Republican candidate for U.S. senator, has long questioned the authority of TRORC. His company, B& M Realty, is in a long fight over a mixed-use development in Hartford, called Quechee Highlands. The project’s future is pending a ruling from the state Supreme Court.
“If we win in court, I believe another valuable legacy of Quechee Highlands will be mandated improvements to the way organizations like Two Rivers operates,” he said in February.
The Advent of Planning
Planning wasn’t a focus for Vermonters until Gov. Phil Hoff established the Central Planning Office in 1963. Shortly after, in 1965, the legislature authorized the creation of regional planning commissions and by 1968, eight regional commissions were formed.
In the beginning, the regional planning commissions used United States Department of Housing and Urban Development money to conduct studies.
But everything changed in 1970, when Gov. Deane Davis signed the bill, which would become Act 250.
Bourdon started working at Two Rivers in 1973, before it became TRORC in 1975. Back then, the organization had a budget of about $100,000 and it handled small land-use planning issues for towns.
Toward the end of 1975, TRORC questioned Hawk Mountain Corporation’s development of 275 single-family units in Pittsfield. It was the first major project Bourdon was involved in. TRORC opposed the project.
“That was a big case,” said Bourdon. “I think we offered some good input.”
TRORC wasn’t alone. The state, the town, local utility companies and the U.S. Forest Service got involved in the case. There were 20 days of hearings before the project’s permits were denied.
Later, in 1984, TRORC — along with the town of Woodstock — opposed the construction of a mixed-use development on Route 4 (near where the Green Mountain Rock Climbing Center is now located in Quechee). The District Environmental Commission approved the project, but TRORC appealed the decision to the state Environmental Board and got the decision reversed.
TRORC stretched its budget thin to fight the project.
“It was tough because we didn’t have the resources for legal experts (or) outside consultants,” Bourdon said. “Today there’s a greater capacity within the organization — both in terms of professional staff and budget.
“But the project never went ahead, which I still think is the right decision.”
TRORC’s Growth Is ‘By Design’
Critics of TRORC says the organization has too much power and not enough checks and balances, even though its members are appointed by town select boards.
The organization is responsible for approval of town plans — and it can cost anywhere from $8,000 to $15,000 for TRORC’s assistance in rewriting a town plan. TRORC also works to put together a regional transportation project prioritization list, which it submits annually to the state Agency of Transportation.
In the past 20 years, the organizations’ core annual operating budget has grown to about $1.3 million, according to Executive Director Peter Gregory. TRORC’s total budget can fluctuate wildly due to grants and contracts ($2,929,355 in 2015 and $4,303,159 in 2014).
Gregory, who succeeded Bourdon in 1997, said the growth of TRORC is “by design.”
“We knew what committees were needing, with the complexity of the state regulations and laws and federal regulations and laws,” Gregory said. “So we wound up positioning ourselves to be that bridge between the two.”
Larger towns like Woodstock use TRORC’s services sparingly — though it did need the organization’s approval to update its town plan.
Preston Bristow works for four of the smaller towns in Windsor County (Barnard, Pomfret, Newbury and West Windsor) and serves as zoning administrator in some and administrative assistant in others.
Bristow says he’s noticed the recent growth of TRORC.
“It’s not necessarily driven by them, it’s the whole state law keeps changing and the directives from their apparent state agency, (that) kind of keeps stepping up their influence,” Bristow said.
This article first appeared in the September 9, 2016 edition of the Vermont Standard.