GMER

In partnership with the Consensus Building Institute of Cambridge, MA, GMER has been awarded a two year grant from the JAMS Foundation to expand its sucessful Act 250 mediation screening project to include local zoning permit applications for select municipalities throughout Vermont. GMER and CBI aim to develop a multi-level statewide program that integrates mediation into the land use permitting process. The Orton Family Foundation will also provide technical support for the project. Click here to read the press release.

Under an arrangement with the Natural Resources Board, GMER has been conducting mediation screenings on major contested Act 250 permit applications before the District Commissions. Although the screening program has only been operating for a few months, GMER has had the opportunity to recommended mediation numerous times. In many cases the parties have elected to pursue mediation and in the vast majority of those cases, the parties reached a settlement that satisfied their interests.

Matt Strassberg was recently appointed as a senior consultant with the Consensus Building Institute (CBI) in Cambridge, Massachusetts. This is a great opportunity to both work on some of CBI’s projects as well as utilize CBI’s resources to partner with on GMER’s projects. GMER and CBI will be working together on developing a fully integrated, state-wide, multi-level model land use mediation program. The program will include mediation screening for local zoning and state-wide land use permit applications, an evaluation program, a mediator referral program, and a best practices in land use mediation course for local, regional, and state officials.

Matt Strassberg wrote an article about mediation for the Vermont Environmental Monitor’s Roundtable series. The article appeared in the October 2005 issue and is entitled “Why You Should Consider Mediation to Resolve Environmental and Land Use Permitting Disputes. The article provides background information on the role of the mediator, the advantages of mediation, the type of cases when is mediation appropriate, and the different types of mediation.

Read the article here

GMER and the New England Environmental Policy Center (NEEPC) were recently awarded a grant by the Windham Foundation to research and develop models to screen Act 250 land use permit applications to target cases that are appropriate for mediation. GMER developed a mediation screening model for the Vermont Natural Resources Board and is now screening all major contested Act 250 applications.