In re White

In In re White, 155 Vt. 612, 587 A.2d 928 (1990), the Town of Randolph failed to comply with a legislative mandate that its zoning criteria for granting a conditional use permit contain certain statutory general standards. The Court held, however, that the failure to include these standards in the town zoning ordinance did not make the ordinance invalid or require that a landowner be given a conditional use permit without complying with the statutory standards. Instead, the Court held that the consequence was that the statutory standards became a part of the town zoning ordinance, whether or not the town adopted them. White, 155 Vt. at 618, 587 A.2d at 931. In White, the statute involved, 24 V.S.A. 4407(2), did not specify the consequences of failing to follow its mandate. The town adopted a conditional use regulation without requiring that the applicant comply with the general standards prescribed in the enabling act, 24 V.S.A. 4407(2). Rather than invalidating the town ordinance, the Court held that "the statutory criteria still govern without further action by the town." Id. at 618, 587 A.2d at 931.