Burlington's Comprehensive Development Ordinance (CDO), adopted 2008, replaced traditional Euclidean zoning with a hybrid form-based code that regulates building shape, frontage, and use across Downtown, Neighborhood, Institutional, and Enterprise districts.
The CDO sets district-specific standards for height, setback, lot coverage, frontage type, and permitted uses. Form-based districts in Downtown and along major corridors (College, Pine, North Avenue) emphasize street-wall continuity, ground-floor activation, and pedestrian frontage; outer neighborhoods retain conventional residential standards. The CDO also integrates the Inclusionary Housing rules (Article 9) and historic preservation overlays (Article 5). Major amendments in 2017 created the planBTV-aligned Downtown Mixed-Use district and the Cambrian Rise master plan.
Permit denial; CDO §6 enforcement: stop-work orders, fines $100-$500/day, court action.
Other ordinances people look up for this city. Green dot = verified primary-source excerpt.
Burlington, VT
Burlington Code of Ordinances §21-13 sets citywide quiet hours from 10:00 PM to 7:00 AM, during which noise plainly audible between apartments or houses is d...
Burlington, VT
Burlington's Comprehensive Development Ordinance limits fences in the First Lot Layer (front yard) to 4 feet and fences in Second and Third Lot Layers (side ...
Burlington, VT
Burlington Comprehensive Development Ordinance (CDO) Article 5 treats storage sheds as accessory structures incidental to a residential use. Sheds may encroa...
Burlington, VT
Burlington's short-term rental ordinance (Chapter 18, adopted 2022) requires hosts to disclose at registration the number of vehicles used by residents and g...
Burlington, VT
Burlington short-term rental hosts must comply with citywide noise rules in Burlington Code of Ordinances Chapter 21, Section 21-13. Quiet hours run 10:00 p....
Burlington, VT
Residential swimming pool barriers in Burlington are governed by the Vermont Fire and Building Safety Code, adopted by the Vermont Division of Fire Safety un...
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