Like many places in Vermont, Royalton’s location places it at risk. Nestled along the White River and its tributaries, the town saw catastrophic flooding during Tropical Storm Irene in 2011.

But rather than abandoning those flood-prone areas, according to Planning Commission Chair Geo Honigford, at least two new houses have been built since Irene in the very same areas that flooded.

“It’s not very good planning to build houses in areas that recently got flooded, but that’s what we’re doing,” Honigford said.

Honigford said this, in conjunction with watching similar communities around the state get hammered by flooding in 2023 and 2024, led the planning commission to look for solutions.

On Town Meeting Day they put before voters a plan to expand local regulations on what people can do with properties that are prone to flooding. The proposal would have not just restricted new development, but in some places restricted what could be done to existing homes and businesses.

In response, street corners across Royalton filled with signs that read “Vote No Flood Hazard Bylaw” in bold red lettering.

“The issue was: Don’t tell us what to do with our property,” Honigford said.

Even opponents admitted that the town needed to do something about flooding in these areas, which includes parts of the two village centers and Vermont Law School’s campus, Honigford said. But restricting development — among the strongest government tools to avoid additional disaster — was unpalatable.

Voters rejected the flood hazard bylaw, 390-193.

The controversy came as many communities across the state are looking for ways to limit flood damages in the face of climate change, and as Vermont prepares to adopt its first-ever statewide restrictions on where new development can happen in river corridors.

As local and elected officials in Royalton discovered, even if people want to see the government take action on flood risk, coming to consensus about what that action should be — especially if it’s new regulation — can prove challenging.

The challenge for towns

Royalton, along with many communities in Vermont, already restricts development in what is often called the 100-year flood plain.

Put another way, it’s the area where, over the course of a 30-year mortgage, a home would have a 25% chance of being inundated with water.

Improving a property there requires a permit in many cases, and new development is effectively banned.

That baseline level of regulation keeps homeowners eligible for the National Flood Insurance Program.

Royalton elected officials say the town sees damage most years because of flooding, and that development in many of the places where that flooding occurs is not restricted by local, state or federal rules.

To create the proposed Town Meeting Day bylaw, the planning commission decided it made sense to expand and strengthen Royalton’s existing regulations to include what’s often called the “500-year flood plain” — or the area where, over a 30-year mortgage, you’d have a one in six chance of being flooded.

That goes beyond what the state or federal government currently requires, but Honigford and others say reflects the true area of flood risk in town.

The commission also proposed new but less stringent regulations on development in river corridors, or the area where a river moves over time. This would have included a 50-foot buffer around small mountain streams, but also exemptions for infill development in village centers.

Both bylaws would have essentially banned new development in the 500-year flood plain and river corridors, and would have applied to some 215 properties across town, according to town officials.

It also would have unlocked 5% more state disaster funding for Royalton after the next flood and likely lowered flood insurance premiums across town. That figure might sound small, but can amount to hundreds of thousands of dollars.

It would also have created a local board to approve or deny permit applications for new development or home improvements in the flood plain, rather than having those permits handled by state regulators.

Community pushback

But the proposal rankled many members of the community.

Speaking on Town Meeting Day, Bob Gray, a former principal at White River Valley High School, said the ordinance was one of the reasons he was coming out of retirement to run for select board — a race he ultimately won.

He found the bylaw’s requirement that existing property owners get a permit for home improvement — even interior projects — invasive. He also worried it would make it harder to build needed housing. (This home improvement provision was required by the federal government.)

“Today it’s pretty much unaffordable for people that have grown up and lived here,” Gray said. “And one of the things I want to do is try to work on affordability.”

Gray wasn’t alone.

In the weeks leading up to the election, a local Facebook group was full of posts from people raising grave concern about how bylaws would affect their property values, their ability to afford to stay in Royalton and the cost of housing. Similar sentiments were raised in letters to The Valley News.

They urged their neighbors to vote the ordinance down and said they felt the local boards weren’t listening to their concerns.

“I think we can all agree that land that is regulated to a point where it can no longer be used as the owner desires will certainly be worth less than land that can be used any way the owner sees fit,” wrote Jacob Mayer. “Therefore, additional funding comes at what expense? And who pays it?”

Hands tied

Flood regulations are changing on the state level, regardless of what local voters decide.

Vermont is due to adopt its first-ever statewide regulations on new development in river corridors in 2028.

While the regulations aren’t set in stone, they’re expected to look much like the rules Royalton and other communities have considered adopting.

Additionally, the Federal Emergency Management Agency is in the process of updating Vermont’s notoriously out-of-date flood hazard maps, which determine where towns must restrict development in order for their residents to qualify for flood insurance.

This will likely require some towns to expand the part of the floodplain they regulate now.

In 2028, Vermont will adopt its own statewide minimum standards for regulation in those areas, which all towns will have to adhere to in order to keep their eligibility for flood insurance.

In the meantime, if towns adopt their own regulations that are as strict or stricter than what the state is proposing, they can earn the right to govern development in flood-prone places at the town level.

For towns that decline to do this for river corridors, Ned Swanberg, with Vermont Department of Environmental Conservation’s Rivers Program, says the statewide regulations will soon govern where development can and can’t happen within their borders.

Overall, owners of existing development in federally regulated flood plains are in a difficult position. The federal government requires permits for home improvement to avoid a greater payout of insurance funds than the flood insurance program nationwide can afford.

Once a home is elevated above the flood level, Swanberg says, under existing rules, a homeowner wouldn’t require a permit for new projects.

But Kevin Geiger, a planner at Two Rivers Ottauquechee Regional Planning Commission, says elevating a home is simply not a viable option for many people living in flood hazard areas in Vermont.

He says projects can cost north of $100,000 and entail replacing the foundation. Federal and state funds are available to help, but many programs reimburse homeowners after the work is done — which can take months.

And, he points out, elevating homes at scale in one community could make flooding worse downstream.

“It’s what we call the brick in the bathtub problem,” Geiger said. “If the bathtub is full and you put a brick in, well, there’s not enough room for all the water.”

Buyouts aren’t a one-size-fits-all solution either, as they strain town budgets and many homeowners can’t find comparably affordable and safe places to live in their community.

Meanwhile, the state just started requiring realtors to disclose flood risk to prospective home buyers last year. Many Vermonters own homes they didn’t know were prone to flooding when they purchased them — or that weren’t historically flooded.

And as the climate continues to change, the state and local governments face big decisions about what to do with historic settlement patterns.

In Royalton, members of the select board and planning commission say they heard their neighbors. And they don’t plan to pursue local regulations again.

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