Vermont Statutes Annotated

Vt. Stat. Ann. tit. 19, § 502 (2026)

Authority; precondemnation hearing

✓ current as of May 2026

Find cases: SyfertCases citing this section VT-LEGlegislature.vermont.gov JustiaTitle on Justia CornellLII Search CasesGoogle Scholar

(Cite as: 19 V.S.A. § 502)

§ 502. Authority; precondemnation hearing

(a) Authority. The Agency, when in its judgment the interests of the State require, may take any property necessary to lay out, relocate, alter, construct, reconstruct, maintain, repair, widen, grade, or improve any State highway, including affected portions of town highways. In furtherance of these purposes, the Agency may enter upon lands to conduct necessary examinations and surveys; however, the Agency shall do this work with minimum damage to the land and disturbance to the owners and shall be subject to liability for actual damages. All property taken permanently shall be taken in fee simple whenever practicable. The Agency’s acquisition of property pursuant to this chapter, whether by condemnation or conveyance in lieu of condemnation, shall not require subdivision approval under any law, regulation, or municipal ordinance. For all State highway projects involving property acquisitions, the Agency shall follow the provisions of the Uniform Relocation Assistance and Real Property Acquisition Policies Act and its implementing regulations, as may be amended.

(b) Limited access highway facilities. The Agency, in the construction and maintenance of limited access highway facilities, may also take any land or rights of the landowner in land under 9 V.S.A. chapter 93, subchapter 2, relating to advertising on limited access highways.

(c) Public hearing; notice of hearing.
(1) A public hearing shall be held for the purpose of receiving suggestions and recommendations from the public prior to the Agency’s initiating proceedings under this chapter for the acquisition of any property. The hearing shall be conducted by the Agency.

(2) The Agency shall prepare an official notice stating the purpose for which the property is desired and generally describing the highway project.

(3) Not less than 30 days prior to the hearing, the Agency shall:

(A) cause the official notice to be printed in a newspaper having general circulation in the area affected;

(B) mail a copy of the notice to the legislative bodies of the municipalities affected; and

(C) mail a copy of the notice to all known owners whose property may be taken as a result of the proposed improvement.

(4) At the hearing, the Agency shall set forth the reasons for the selection of the route intended and shall hear and consider all objections, suggestions for changes, and recommendations made by any person interested. Following the hearing, the Agency may proceed to lay out the highway and survey and acquire the land to be taken or affected in accordance with this chapter.

(d) Land used for school purposes. The Agency shall not take land or any right in land that is owned by a town or union school district and being used for school purposes until the voters of the district have voted on the issue of taking at a meeting called for that purpose. A special meeting of the town or union school district shall be called promptly upon receiving notice of a public hearing unless the annual meeting is to be held within 30 days after receiving the notice of public hearing. Due consideration shall be given by the court to the result of the vote, in addition to the other factors referred to in section 501 of this title, in determining necessity.

(e) Future planning. In the interests of orderly and effective future planning, the Agency may acquire land and rights in land to be used for highway purposes within the reasonably foreseeable future, including future construction of four-lane highways on routes presently designed for construction of two lanes, and the construction of interchanges, bridges, and all other improvements to existing highways or highways presently scheduled for construction. In the case of the laying out of highways on a new location, “reasonably foreseeable future” means projects on which construction is to be commenced in a period not exceeding 15 years from the date of acquisition. In the event the Agency determines that the land is no longer necessary for use as a highway, it shall immediately sell the property at public sale to private persons, giving consideration to the adjoining landowners. (Added 1985, No. 269 (Adj. Sess.), § 1; amended 1993, No. 172 (Adj. Sess.), § 20; 2011, No. 126 (Adj. Sess.), § 2; 2019, No. 59, § 23; 2021, No. 20, § 91.)

Notes of Decisions

Cited in 6 cases (2 in the last 5 years), 1988–2024 · leading case: State v. Kreth, 553 A.2d 554 (Vt. 1988).

Sort: Relevance Newest Treatment

State v. Kreth, 553 A.2d 554 (Vt. 1988). · cites it 2× “19 V.S.A. § 502(a) confers on the Agency of Transportation, upon request of the Transportation Board, the right to enter private lands for "the purpose of examination and making necessary surveys" in connection with highway projects.”

In re Champlain Parkway SW Discharge Permit (Fortieth Burlington, LLC, Appellant), 2021 VT 34 (Vt. 2021). · cites it 4× “Specifically, it argues that these activities were not begun by that date because certain right-of-way plans mandated by the 2012 Vermont Agency of Transportation’s Right-of-Way Manual (VTrans Manual) were not completed until April 2018 and a necessity hearing required under 19…”

In Re Munson Earth Moving Corp., 737 A.2d 906 (Vt. 1999). “, fifteen years from the date of condemnation, see 19 V.S.A. § 502(e), together with the legislative commitment to provide funding for the project, as evinced by 1985, No.”

In Re Chittenden Solid Waste Dist., 657 A.2d 197 (Vt. 1995). “In response to an argument that the highway board’s public hearing and findings were subject to judicial review, we stated: When the appellants complain of the alleged inadequacy of the investigation and the failure of the highway board to make findings, they mistake the nature…”

Vermont Agency of Transp. v. Mazza, 632 A.2d 363 (Vt. 1993). “Defendant argues that plaintiff, the Vermont Agency of Transportation, failed to show that construction would be commenced within fifteen years from the date of acquisition, as required by 19 V.S.A. § 502(e). We affirm. The sole evidence on the question came from the project…”

mongeon bay props v. colchester (Vt. Super. Ct. 2024). · cites it 2× “Mongeon also points out that the legislature explicitly exempted the Agency of Transportation from subdivision reviews for its takings under 19 V.S.A. § 502: “The Agency’s acquisition of property pursuant to this chapter, whether by condemnation or conveyance in lieu of…”

— Vt. Stat. Ann. tit. 19, § 502(a) — 1 case

State v. Kreth, 553 A.2d 554 (Vt. 1988). “19 V.S.A. § 502(a) confers on the Agency of Transportation, upon request of the Transportation Board, the right to enter private lands for "the purpose of examination and making necessary surveys" in connection with highway projects.”

— Vt. Stat. Ann. tit. 19, § 502(c) — 1 case

In re Champlain Parkway SW Discharge Permit (Fortieth Burlington, LLC, Appellant), 2021 VT 34 (Vt. 2021). “Specifically, it argues that these activities were not begun by that date because certain right-of-way plans mandated by the 2012 Vermont Agency of Transportation’s Right-of-Way Manual (VTrans Manual) were not completed until April 2018 and a necessity hearing required under 19…”

— Vt. Stat. Ann. tit. 19, § 502(c)(1) — 1 case

— Vt. Stat. Ann. tit. 19, § 502(e) — 2 cases

Annotations are extracted automatically from the opinions in the Syfert caselaw corpus and ranked by authority, recency, and treatment. Dots show Syfertize treatment of the citing case itself.