BENNINGTON, Vt. (AP) – Bennington could become the first Vermont town to require large retailers to prove they would not harm the community if they want a permit to do business.

The Planning Commission is about to ask the Select Board to approve a zoning bylaw that would require stores larger than 20,000 square feet to pay for an independent “community impact” study.

The proposed requirement, which was applauded at a public hearing Wednesday night, would be waived for downtown businesses.

“The rest of Vermont is watching very closely,” said Michael McDonough, a commission member. “I think you will see other communities follow our lead if we move in this direction.”

The Planning Commission also wants to make permanent an interim bylaw that caps big-box stores along the town’s commercial strip at 75,000 square feet.

Retail stores on Benmont Avenue, which connects the strip to Main Street, would be permanently capped at 50,000 square feet. The Select Board placed an identical cap on downtown businesses when it adopted the interim measure earlier this year.

The Planning Commission, however, would lift the cap downtown in hopes of promoting development there. Officials told about a dozen citizens at the public hearing they were confident that existing density requirements and design review standards were sufficient to protect Main Street.

“We can make it work,” said Planning Director Daniel Monks.

The Select Board balked last year when the Planning Commission first suggested that retail stores larger than 38,000 square feet undergo economic impact studies.

The commission has responded by broadening the issues to be reviewed. The proposed bylaw calls for an evaluation of a project’s costs and benefits, including the effect on property tax revenues and the creation or loss of jobs in town.

Before a local permit could be issued, the Development Review Board would have to find that a retail project would not have an undue adverse impact on wages, housing costs or the town’s ability to provide services.

AP-ES-07-02-04 0641EDT