Fish tale
Playoff pursuits
As lake trout breed successfully, stocking scales back
Regular season ends, Redhawks look to titles
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June 1, 2023
Weekly news coverage for Charlotte and Hinesburg
Charlotte reworks cannabis land use regulations
thecitizenvt.com
Turtle time
New public hearing set for June 15 LIBERTY DARR STAFF WRITER
Charlotte’s just-approved cannabis land use regulations are back to the drafting table after the Legislature updated the state’s cannabis rules to exempt all outdoor grow operations from municipal permitting in the same way as agriculture. “It seems likely to earn the governor’s signature, so we’re acting accordingly,” town planner Larry Lewack said. He explained that although Charlotte can still regulate other types of cannabis businesses, “We just have to basically cross out everything that pertains to outdoor
cannabis cultivation because we don’t have authority.” Under current law, exemption from municipal permitting is restricted only to small outdoor cultivation projects up to 1,000 square feet of plant canopy or 125 plants, which Lewack described as a “problematic rule from the get-go.” “Everything that we were trying to address through our regulations had an asterisk next to it that basically said, ‘Except for (Tier 1 outdoor) grows, here are the rules.’ It made for some awkward language but more importantly, See CANNABIS on page 12
LEE KROHN PHOTO
State wildlife officials are urging motorists to watch out for turtles while driving this time of year, particularly around wetlands and ponds. Learn more on page 3.
Homelessness goes up in Chittenden County COREY MCDONALD STAFF WRITER
The annual count of Chittenden County residents living on the streets or in shelters has increased from last year, reflecting a fiveyear high as the state’s scarcity of housing options continues to leave
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many without options. According to the 2023 Chittenden County Point-in-Time count report, released by the Chittenden County Homeless Alliance, 758 people were found living on the streets or in a shelter. That’s an increase from last year’s count of 668 people, as well as the 700
people counted in 2021. Of those, 715 were in some form of shelter, while 43 were living on the street. In 2019 and 2020, before the pandemic hit, 309 and 261 individuals, respectively, were found without stable housing, according to previous counts.
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While in 2021 and 2022, most individuals were found in emergency shelter, this year, the report found that 367 individuals were in emergency shelters, while 348 individuals were in transitional housing — a big increase from previous years. Notably, the number of house-
holds with children has been on the rise since 2020, when 22 households with children were counted. According to this year’s report, 82 families with children were found in a shelter. No families with children were found on the streets. See HOMELESSNESS on page 12
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