Barre moves to ban public nudity

The Vermont city could finalize its first-ever nudity ordinance as soon as tomorrow

Apr 20, 2026

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Aerial view of downtown Barre, Vermont, with brick buildings, tree-lined streets, and fall foliage covering the surrounding hills. — Barre, Vermont, from the southeast | Photo by Ascended Dreamer, Wikimedia Commons (CC BY 4.0)

It started with a phone call. Earlier this spring, a woman who operates a nude taxi service in St. Albans—identified by local outlet The Bridge only as “Tara”—called the clerk’s office and police department in Barre asking about permits and applications to operate there. She says she had no real intention of setting up shop in Barre. But the inquiry was enough. The Barre City Council introduced a public nudity ordinance for a first reading on March 241—the city’s first in its 200-year history.

The official agenda packet states the reason plainly: “In response to an inquiry regarding a nude taxi permit, we are proposing that the City Council enact an ordinance outlawing public nudity.” According to The Bridge, the council unanimously adopted it at a subsequent meeting, with the law expected to take effect by late April. The council meets again tomorrow, April 21, when a final vote or public hearing may take place.

Narrowing framework and naturist response

Planet Nude has been tracking the erosion of Vermont’s unusually permissive legal framework for over a year. The state is one of the few in the country where simple, nonsexual public nudity is not explicitly criminalized—provided a person doesn’t disrobe in public view. That distinction has made Vermont a bit of an outlier, where social nudity and events like Montpelier’s World Naked Bike Ride could exist without running afoul of state law. But that framework has been narrowing, city by city.

In June 2025, we reported that Burlington was taking its first steps toward a ban, driven by complaints from residents and businesses about unclothed individuals appearing downtown and in city parks. By September, Burlington’s ordinance committee had unanimously finalized the law, prohibiting exposure of genitals or the anal region in most public spaces. Fines start at $100 for a first offense, doubling for a second, and reaching $500 for a third.

Barre’s ordinance follows the same template—City Manager Nicolas Storellicastro confirmed to The Bridge he modeled it directly on Burlington’s, with minor modifications.

The American Association for Nude Recreation has been watching with concern. “We have always appreciated Vermont’s ‘live and let live’ spirit and its atmosphere of body acceptance,” AANR executive director and general counsel Erich Schuttauf told The Bridge.2 “It’s disappointing when that changes, as is happening here.” He argued that “making laws to address unique situations usually leads to problem laws. Why change what usually works?” It’s a pointed question given that Storellicastro acknowledged to The Bridge there have been no recent nudity complaints in Barre.

Barre and Burlington aren’t alone. Montpelier also restricts “immodest” public exposure under its municipal code.

That municipal trend has recently gone statewide with a legislative push that Planet Nude first reported on in February. House Bill H.683, introduced January 14 by Representatives Gregory Burtt, Michael Tagliavia, and Kenneth Wells, would go much further than any local ordinance—making public nudity a criminal offense across Vermont, with penalties of up to six months in jail or a $500 fine. The bill’s language would extend even to private property visible from public spaces, meaning someone nude in their own front yard could face charges.

H.683 was referred to the House Judiciary Committee on the day it was introduced and has seen no recorded activity since. No hearings have been scheduled, no testimony taken. But it hasn’t been withdrawn either—and every new municipal ordinance passed gives its sponsors a stronger argument that Vermont’s patchwork of local rules needs a uniform statewide solution.

Make your voice heard now

The Barre City Council is scheduled to meet tomorrow, April 21, at 6pm in the Council Chambers at City Hall, 6 North Main Street—a meeting that may include a public hearing on the ordinance before any final vote. If you’re in the area, attending is the most direct way to make your voice heard. If you can’t attend in person, you can contact City Manager Nicolas Storellicastro at citymanager@barrecity.org. But make sure you do it today.

Vermonts state law hasn’t changed—at least not yet. But the space in which it means anything keeps shrinking. 🪐