The Law of the Land: Development Legislation in Maine and Vermont

In recent Maine and Vermont environmental protection legislation, desecration of the landscape has emerged as an issue as controversial as pollution of water and air. Traditional techniques of land use regulation operate locally, some say parochially, without any regular regard for Earth Day or statehouse politics or even administrative fair play. The trend in northern New England to adopt state-level standards totally changes the business of land development. And statewide rules are not the end; national land use standards are imminent. A report by the President's Council of Environmental Quality recommends federal controls within areas of critical environmental concern, such as coastal zones, shorelands and river floodplains, and within areas impacted by major facilities, such as regional airports, interstate highway intersections, new towns and large recreational developments. What are the new Maine and Vermont laws and how do they work? Several cases are selected to illustrate the operations and problems of the environmental protection laws as they relate to the business of subdividing and developing land, especially for the recreation market.