Terms Used In Vermont Statutes > Title 24 > Chapter 117 - Municipal and Regional Planning and Development

• Accessory dwelling unit: means a distinct unit that is clearly subordinate to a single-family dwelling and has facilities and provisions for independent living, including sleeping, food preparation, and sanitation, provided there is compliance with all the following:

• Accredited physician assistant program: means a physician assistant educational program that has been accredited by the Accreditation Review Commission on Education for the Physician Assistant (ARC-PA), or, prior to 2001, by either the Committee on Allied Health Education and Accreditation (CAHEA) or the Commission on Accreditation of Allied Health Education Programs (CAAHEP). See
• Adjourn: A motion to adjourn a legislative chamber or a committee, if passed, ends that day's session.
• Affordable housing: means either of the following:

• Affordable housing development: means a housing development of which at least 20 percent of the units or a minimum of five units, whichever is greater, are affordable housing units. See
• Agency of Education: means the Secretary and staff necessary to carry out the functions of the Agency. See
• Alcohol and drug abuse counselor: means a person who engages in the practice of alcohol and drug abuse counseling for compensation. See
• Amendment: A proposal to alter the text of a pending bill or other measure by striking out some of it, by inserting new language, or both. Before an amendment becomes part of the measure, thelegislature must agree to it.
• Annual meeting: when applied to towns shall mean the annual town meeting in March or an adjournment thereof. See
• Appeal: A request made after a trial, asking another court (usually the court of appeals) to decide whether the trial was conducted properly. To make such a request is "to appeal" or "to take an appeal." One who appeals is called the appellant.
• Appellate: About appeals; an appellate court has the power to review the judgement of another lower court or tribunal.
• Appropriate municipal panel: means a planning commission performing development review, a board of adjustment, a development review board, or a legislative body performing development review. See
• Appropriation: The provision of funds, through an annual appropriations act or a permanent law, for federal agencies to make payments out of the Treasury for specified purposes. The formal federal spending process consists of two sequential steps: authorization
• ARRT: means the American Registry of Radiologic Technologists or its successor, as recognized by the Board. See
• Assets: (1) The property comprising the estate of a deceased person, or (2) the property in a trust account.
• Attachment: A procedure by which a person's property is seized to pay judgments levied by the court.
• Bequest: Property gifted by will.
• between: as used in this title in respect to a specified age of a student, shall mean the period of time commencing on the birthday of the child when he or she becomes the age first specified and ending on the day next preceding the birthday of the child when he or she becomes the age last specified. See
• Board: means the State Board of Medical Practice established by chapter 23 of this title. See
• Board: means the State Board of Medical Practice established under chapter 23 of this title. See
• Bylaws: means municipal regulations applicable to land development adopted under the authority of this chapter. See
• Capacity study: means an inventory of available natural and human-made resources, based on detailed data collection, that identifies the capacities and limits of those resources to absorb land development. See
• Certification: means a voluntary process by which a statutory regulatory entity grants to a person who has met certain prerequisite qualifications the right to assume or to use the title of the profession or occupation, or the right to assume or use the term "certified" in conjunction with the title. See
• child: means a student with disabilities who is three years of age or older in the current school year. See
• Child with a disability: means any child in Vermont eligible under State rules to receive special education. See
• Clinical social work: is a specialty practice of social work within the practice of master's social work and requires the application of social work theory, knowledge, methods, ethics, and the professional use of self to restore or enhance social, psychosocial, or biopsychosocial functioning of individuals, couples, families, groups, organizations and communities. See
• Collaboration: means a physician assistant's consultation with or referral to an appropriate physician or other health care professional as indicated based on the patient's condition; the physician assistant's education, training, and experience; and the applicable standards of care. See
• Common law: The legal system that originated in England and is now in use in the United States. It is based on judicial decisions rather than legislative action.
• Complaint: A written statement by the plaintiff stating the wrongs allegedly committed by the defendant.
• Conformance with the plan: means a proposed implementation tool, including a bylaw or bylaw amendment that is in accord with the municipal plan in effect at the time of adoption, when the bylaw or bylaw amendment includes all the following:

• Contract: A legal written agreement that becomes binding when signed.
• Conviction: A judgement of guilt against a criminal defendant.
• Corporation: A legal entity owned by the holders of shares of stock that have been issued, and that can own, receive, and transfer property, and carry on business in its own name.
• Damages: Money paid by defendants to successful plaintiffs in civil cases to compensate the plaintiffs for their injuries.
• Deed: The legal instrument used to transfer title in real property from one person to another.
• Devise: To gift property by will.
• Director: means the Director of the Office of Professional Regulation. See
• Director: means the Director of the Office of Professional Regulation. See
• Director: means the Director of the Office of Professional Regulation. See
• Disciplinary action: means any action taken by the Board against a physician assistant or an applicant, or an appeal of that action, when the action suspends, revokes, limits, or conditions licensure in any way. See
• Disciplinary action: means any action taken by the Board against a certified radiologist assistant or an applicant or an appeal of that action when that action suspends, revokes, limits, or conditions certification in any way or when it results in a reprimand of the person. See
• Domestic: when applied to a corporation, company, association, or copartnership shall mean organized under the laws of this State; "foreign" when so applied, shall mean organized under the laws of another state, government, or country. See
• Element: means a component of a plan. See
• Emergency shelter: means any facility, the primary purpose of which is to provide a temporary shelter for the homeless in general or for specific populations of the homeless and that does not require occupants to sign leases or occupancy agreements. See
• Equilibrium condition: means the width, depth, meander pattern, and longitudinal slope of a stream channel that occurs when water flow, sediment, and woody debris are transported by the stream in such a manner that it generally maintains dimensions, pattern, and slope without unnaturally aggrading or degrading the channel bed elevation. See
• Equitable: Pertaining to civil suits in "equity" rather than in "law." In English legal history, the courts of "law" could order the payment of damages and could afford no other remedy. See damages. A separate court of "equity" could order someone to do something or to cease to do something. See, e.g., injunction. In American jurisprudence, the federal courts have both legal and equitable power, but the distinction is still an important one. For example, a trial by jury is normally available in "law" cases but not in "equity" cases. ^{Source: U.S. Courts}
• Escrow: Money given to a third party to be held for payment until certain conditions are met.
• Essential early education: means the education of children with disabilities prior to legal school age for the early acquisition of fundamental skills. See
• Evidence: Information presented in testimony or in documents that is used to persuade the fact finder (judge or jury) to decide the case for one side or the other.
• Ex officio: Literally, by virtue of one's office.
• extraordinary expenditures: means a supervisory union's allowable special education expenditures that for any one child in a fiscal year exceed $60,000. See
• Fair market value: The price at which an asset would change hands in a transaction between a willing, informed buyer and a willing, informed seller.
• Federal law: means the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act, 20 U. See
• Fee simple: Absolute title to property with no limitations or restrictions regarding the person who may inherit it.
• Fees: shall mean earnings due for official services, aside from salaries or per diem compensation. See
• Fiscal year: The fiscal year is the accounting period for the government. For the federal government, this begins on October 1 and ends on September 30. The fiscal year is designated by the calendar year in which it ends; for example, fiscal year 2006 begins on October 1, 2005 and ends on September 30, 2006.
• Fluvial erosion: means the erosion or scouring of riverbeds and banks during high flow conditions of a river. See
• following: when used by way of reference to a section of the law shall mean the next preceding or following section. See
• Forest block: means a contiguous area of forest in any stage of succession and not currently developed for nonforest use. See
• Forest fragmentation: means the division or conversion of a forest block by land development other than by a recreational trail or use exempt from regulation under subsection 4413(d) of this title. See
• Fraud: Intentional deception resulting in injury to another.
• Germane: On the subject of the pending bill or other business; a strict standard of relevance.
• Gift: A voluntary transfer or conveyance of property without consideration, or for less than full and adequate consideration based on fair market value.
• Guardian: A person legally empowered and charged with the duty of taking care of and managing the property of another person who because of age, intellect, or health, is incapable of managing his (her) own affairs.
• Habitat connector: means land or water, or both, that links patches of wildlife habitat within a landscape, allowing the movement, migration, and dispersal of animals and plants and the functioning of ecological processes. See
• Hazard area: means land subject to landslides, soil erosion, fluvial erosion, earthquakes, water supply contamination, or other natural or human-made hazards as identified within a "local mitigation plan" enacted under section 4424 of this title and in conformance with and approved pursuant to the provisions of 44 C. See
• Impact fee: means a fee levied as a condition of issuance of a zoning or subdivision permit that will be used to cover any portion of the costs of an existing or planned capital project that will benefit or is attributable to the users of the development or to compensate the municipality for any expenses it incurs as a result of construction. See
• Independent school: means a school other than a public school, which provides a program of elementary or secondary education, or both. See
• Individualized education program: means a program established for an eligible child pursuant to 20 U. See
• inhabitants: shall mean the population of the political division referred to, as ascertained by the national census last completed before the time when such population is a material fact. See
• Injunction: An order of the court prohibiting (or compelling) the performance of a specific act to prevent irreparable damage or injury.
• interested person: means any one of the following:

• Jurisdiction: (1) The legal authority of a court to hear and decide a case. Concurrent jurisdiction exists when two courts have simultaneous responsibility for the same case. (2) The geographic area over which the court has authority to decide cases.
• Land development: means the division of a parcel into two or more parcels, the construction, reconstruction, conversion, structural alteration, relocation, or enlargement of any building or other structure, or of any mining, excavation, or landfill, and any change in the use of any building or other structure, or land, or extension of use of land. See
• Lease: A contract transferring the use of property or occupancy of land, space, structures, or equipment in consideration of a payment (e.g., rent). ^{Source: OCC}
• Legislative body: means the selectboard in the case of a town, the trustees in the case of an incorporated village, and the mayor, alderpersons, and city council members in the case of a city, and the supervisor in the case of an unorganized town or gore. See
• Legislative session: That part of a chamber's daily session in which it considers legislative business (bills, resolutions, and actions related thereto).
• Liabilities: The aggregate of all debts and other legal obligations of a particular person or legal entity.
• License: means an individual, nontransferable authorization to carry on an activity based on qualifications such as:

• Licensed independent clinical social worker: means a person licensed under this chapter to practice clinical social work. See
• Month: shall mean a calendar month and "year" shall mean a calendar year and be equivalent to the expression "year of our Lord. See
• Mortgage: The written agreement pledging property to a creditor as collateral for a loan.
• Municipal land use permit: means any of the following whenever issued:

• Municipality: means a town, a city, or an incorporated village or an unorganized town or gore. See
• Municipality: means a town, a city, or an incorporated village or an unorganized town or gore. See
• National Flood Insurance Program: means the National Flood Insurance Program under 42 U. See
• New construction: means construction of structures or filling commenced on or after the effective date of the adoption of a community's flood hazard bylaws. See
• Nonconforming use: means use of land that does not conform to the present bylaws but did conform to all applicable laws, ordinances, and regulations prior to the enactment of the present bylaws, including a use improperly authorized as a result of error by the administrative officer. See
• Nonconformity: means a nonconforming use, structure, lot, or parcel. See
• Obligation: An order placed, contract awarded, service received, or similar transaction during a given period that will require payments during the same or a future period.
• Occupational therapist: means a person who is licensed to practice occupational therapy under this chapter. See
• Occupational therapy assistant: means a person who is licensed to assist in the practice of occupational therapy under the supervision of an occupational therapist. See
• Office: means the Office of Professional Regulation. See
• Office: means the Office of Professional Regulation. See
• Office: means the Office of Professional Regulation. See
• Oversight: Committee review of the activities of a Federal agency or program.
• Participating physician: means a physician practicing as a sole practitioner, a physician designated by a group of physicians to represent their physician group, or a physician designated by a health care facility to represent that facility, who enters into a practice agreement with a physician assistant in accordance with this chapter. See
• Partnership: A voluntary contract between two or more persons to pool some or all of their assets into a business, with the agreement that there will be a proportional sharing of profits and losses.
• Person: means an individual, a corporation, a partnership, an association, and any other incorporated or unincorporated organization or group. See
• Person: shall include any natural person, corporation, municipality, the State of Vermont or any department, agency, or subdivision of the State, and any partnership, unincorporated association, or other legal entity. See
• Personal property: All property that is not real property.
• Physician: means an individual licensed to practice medicine pursuant to chapter 23 or 33 of this title. See
• Physician group: means a medical practice involving two or more physicians. See
• Plan: means a municipal plan adopted under section 4385 of this title. See
• Planned unit development: means one or more lots, tracts, or parcels of land to be developed as a single entity, the plan for which may propose any authorized combination of density or intensity transfers or increases, as well as the mixing of land uses. See
• Planning commission: means a planning commission for a municipality created under subchapter 2 of this chapter. See
• Practice agreement: means an agreement that meets the requirements of section 1735a of this chapter. See
• Practice as a physician assistant: means the practice of medicine by a PA pursuant to a practice agreement signed by a participating physician. See
• Practice of alcohol and drug abuse counseling: means the application of methods, including psychotherapy, that assist an individual or group to develop an understanding of alcohol and drug abuse dependency problems or process disorders, and to define goals and plan actions reflecting the individual's or group's interests, abilities, and needs as affected by alcohol and drug abuse dependency problems and comorbid conditions. See
• Practitioner: means a person who is actively engaged in a specified profession or occupation. See
• Precedent: A court decision in an earlier case with facts and law similar to a dispute currently before a court. Precedent will ordinarily govern the decision of a later similar case, unless a party can show that it was wrongly decided or that it differed in some significant way.
• Presiding officer: A majority-party Senator who presides over the Senate and is charged with maintaining order and decorum, recognizing Members to speak, and interpreting the Senate's rules, practices and precedents.
• Probation: A sentencing alternative to imprisonment in which the court releases convicted defendants under supervision as long as certain conditions are observed.
• Protocol: means a detailed description of the duties and scope of practice delegated by a radiologist to a radiologist assistant. See
• Psychotherapy: means the provision of treatment, diagnosis, evaluation, or counseling services to individuals or groups, for a consideration, for the purpose of alleviating mental disorders. See
• Public notice: means the form of notice prescribed by section 4444, 4449, or 4464 of this title, as the context requires. See
• Public road: means a State highway as defined in 19 V. See
• Public school: means an elementary school or secondary school operated by a school district. See
• Quorum: The number of legislators that must be present to do business.
• Radiologist: means a person who is licensed to practice medicine or osteopathy under chapter 23 or 33 of this title and who meets one or both of the following requirements:

• Radiologist assistant: means a person certified by the State of Vermont under this chapter who is qualified by education, training, experience, and personal character to provide medical services under the direction and supervision of a radiologist. See
• Readily available: means that a supervising radiologist is available in person or is available remotely by telephone or through a live, interactive audio and video connection. See
• real estate: shall include lands, tenements, and hereditaments and all rights thereto and interests therein, and pews or slips in places of public worship shall be treated as real estate. See
• Real property: Land, and all immovable fixtures erected on, growing on, or affixed to the land.
• Recess: A temporary interruption of the legislative business.
• Recourse: An arrangement in which a bank retains, in form or in substance, any credit risk directly or indirectly associated with an asset it has sold (in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles) that exceeds a pro rata share of the bank's claim on the asset. If a bank has no claim on an asset it has sold, then the retention of any credit risk is recourse. ^{Source: FDIC}
• Recreational trail: means a corridor that is not paved and that is used for hiking, walking, bicycling, cross-country skiing, snowmobiling, all-terrain vehicle riding, horseback riding, and other similar recreational activity. See
• Regional plan: means a plan adopted under section 4348 of this title. See
• Regional planning commission: means a planning commission for a region created under subchapter 3 of this chapter. See
• Registration: means a process requiring that, prior to rendering services, a practitioner formally notify a regulatory entity of his, her, or its intent to engage in the profession or occupation. See
• Regulatory entity: means the statutory entity responsible for regulating a profession or occupation, such as a board or an agency of the State. See
• Regulatory law: means any law in this State that requires a person engaged in a profession or occupation to be registered, certified, or licensed or that otherwise regulates the operation of that profession or occupation. See
• Remainder: An interest in property that takes effect in the future at a specified time or after the occurrence of some event, such as the death of a life tenant.
• Renewable energy resources: means energy available for collection or conversion from direct sunlight, wind, running water, organically derived fuels, including wood and agricultural sources, waste heat, and geothermal sources. See
• Residential placement: means the placement of an eligible child, as part of an individualized education program, in a 24-hour residential facility within or outside Vermont that provides educational services consistent with the child's program. See
• River: means the full length and width, including the bed and banks, of any watercourse, including rivers, streams, creeks, brooks, and branches which experience perennial flow. See
• River corridor: means the land area adjacent to a river that is required to accommodate the dimensions, slope, planform, and buffer of the naturally stable channel and that is necessary for the natural maintenance or natural restoration of a dynamic equilibrium condition and for minimization of fluvial erosion hazards, as delineated by the Agency of Natural Resources in accordance with river corridor protection procedures. See
• River corridor protection area: means the area within a delineated river corridor subject to fluvial erosion that may occur as a river establishes and maintains the dimension, pattern, and profile associated with its dynamic equilibrium condition and that would represent a hazard to life, property, and infrastructure placed within the area. See
• road: shall include bridges thereon and their approaches. See
• Rural town: means a town having, as at the date of the most recent U. See
• said: when used by way of reference to a person or thing shall apply to the same person or thing last mentioned. See
• School district: means town school districts, union school districts, interstate school districts, city school districts, unified union districts, and incorporated school districts, each of which is governed by a publicly elected board. See
• School year: means the year beginning July 1 and ending the next June 30. See
• Secretary: means the Secretary of Education. See
• served by municipal sewer and water infrastructure: means :

• Settlement: Parties to a lawsuit resolve their difference without having a trial. Settlements often involve the payment of compensation by one party in satisfaction of the other party's claims.
• Should: means that an activity is encouraged but not mandated. See
• Special education: means , to the extent required by federal law, specially designed instruction, at no cost to parents or guardian, to meet the unique educational needs of a child with a disability, including classroom instruction, instruction in physical education, home instruction, and instruction in hospitals and institutions. See
• State: when applied to the different parts of the United States may apply to the District of Columbia and any territory and the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico. See
• State Board: means the State Board of Education established by chapter 3 of this title. See
• State-placed student: means :

• Statute: A law passed by a legislature.
• Structure: means an assembly of materials for occupancy or use, including a building, mobile home or trailer, sign, wall, or fence. See
• Substantial improvement: means any repair, reconstruction, or improvement of a structure, the cost of which equals or exceeds 50 percent of the market value of the structure either before the improvement or repair is started or, if the structure has been damaged and is being restored, before the damage occurred. See
• Supervision: means the direction and review by a supervising radiologist, as determined to be appropriate by the Board, of the medical services provided by the radiologist assistant. See
• Supervision: means the oversight of a person for the purposes of teaching, training, or clinical review by a licensed alcohol and drug abuse counselor or a qualified supervisor as determined by the Director by rule. See
• Supervisory district: means a supervisory union that consists of only one school district, which may be a unified union district. See
• Supervisory union: means an administrative, planning, and educational service unit created by the State Board under section 261 of this title, that consists of two or more school districts; if the context clearly allows, the term also means a supervisory district. See
• sworn: shall include affirmed. See
• Technical deficiency: means a defect in a proposed plan or bylaw, or an amendment or repeal thereof, correction of which does not involve substantive change to the proposal, including corrections to grammar, spelling, and punctuation, as well as the numbering of sections. See
• Telecommunications facility: means a tower or other support structure, including antennae, that will extend 20 or more feet vertically, and related equipment, and base structures to be used primarily for communication or broadcast purposes to transmit or receive communication or broadcast signals. See
• Testimony: Evidence presented orally by witnesses during trials or before grand juries.
• Town: shall include city and wards or precincts therein; "selectboard members" and "board of civil authority" shall extend to and include the mayor and aldermen of cities; "trustees" shall extend to and include bailiffs of incorporated villages; and the laws applicable to the inhabitants and officers of towns shall be applicable to the inhabitants and similar officers of all municipal corporations. See
• Trial: A hearing that takes place when the defendant pleads "not guilty" and witnesses are required to come to court to give evidence.
• Unilateral placement: means a placement of a child eligible for special education by a person or persons having legal custody of the child in an educational placement other than one recommended by the child's duly constituted individualized education program team as defined in 20 U. See
• Uphold: The decision of an appellate court not to reverse a lower court decision.
• Urban municipality: means a city, an incorporated village, or any town that is not a rural town. See
• Veto: The procedure established under the Constitution by which the President/Governor refuses to approve a bill or joint resolution and thus prevents its enactment into law. A regular veto occurs when the President/Governor returns the legislation to the house in which it originated. The President/Governor usually returns a vetoed bill with a message indicating his reasons for rejecting the measure. In Congress, the veto can be overridden only by a two-thirds vote in both the Senate and the House.
• Village: shall mean an incorporated village. See
• Wetlands: means those areas of the State that are inundated by surface or groundwater with a frequency sufficient to support vegetation or aquatic life that depend on saturated or seasonally saturated soil conditions for growth and reproduction. See