September 1998

By James Lawlor

New Mexico: A pretty good year. While the chapter did not get everything it wanted during last spring's legislative session, says Lora Lucero, AICP, the chapter's "ear" in Santa Fe, it did help derail some potentially damaging bills, including two dealing with compensation for takings. One measure, S.B. 654, was tabled indefinitely after a spirited committee hearing, while another, H.B. 1281, was withdrawn by its sponsor.

The chapter also managed to sink four bills that would have undone subdivision reforms enacted in 1995. One bill, backed by development interests, would have done away with the requirement that subdividers must prove that water is available before a project is approved, Lucero reports.

On the other hand, Gov. Gary Johnson vetoed two pro-planning bills, including one backed by a good-government group called New Mexico First. H.B. 922 would have established a commission to undertake strategic planning at the statewide level and funded it with a $100,000 appropriation. The other bill would have set up a commission to resolve zoning, subdivision, and annexation disputes between Albuquerque and surrounding Bernalillo County. The governor vetoed it on the ground it created another layer of government.

As for future projects, Lucero says the chapter is setting up a joint task force with the New Mexico Municipal League chapter to make recommendations for revising the state's land-use enabling law, which dates from the 1920s.

Texas: Score one. The big news, reports legislative correspondent Frank Turner, AICP, is Gov. George Bush's signing on May 30 of S.B. 1227, which authorizes municipalities to prepare comprehensive plans tailored to their own needs. The measure, described in this column in July, goes into effect September 1.

The governor also signed two bills dealing with affordable housing. H.B. 1410 authorizes economic development corporations to develop affordable housing projects. A related bill, S.B. 1852, backed by the Texas Association of Builders, establishes an affordable housing task force to evaluate the effects of municipal regulations on the construction of affordable housing. The task force is supposed to report to the governor before the next legislative session. Turner says planners will be following the task force's work closely, lest it turn out to be a smokescreen for dismantling municipal regulatory authority.

Finally, Turner notes that the much-feared movement to curtail municipal annexation powers fizzled out, at least for this session. However, he predicts that the annexation issue will be debated again in the next session.

Arizona: Details, details. Legislative chair Corey Cox, AICP, reports that two "minor" changes in an omnibus real estate bill threatened to derail the chapter's efforts to reform the state's subdivision laws. The measure, S.B. 1231, was signed into law by Gov. Fife Simington on April 24.

One proposed change--deleted in committee--modified the definition of "acting in concert." According to the new language, persons who aided others in committing an intentional act could not be said to be acting in concert if they did not consciously agree to commit the act. The chapter objected on the grounds that the new language would excuse the violation of planning and zoning laws by people claiming not to know better.

The second change, which was accepted, was intended to tighten the definition of noncontiguous lots, but Cox says the change still leaves open the possibility of inappropriate lot splits that would not be subject to county regulation. The chapter hopes to improve the definition in subsequent legislation, she adds.

In other action, says Cox, the governor signed S.B. 1238, which enables municipalities to establish procedures for transferring development rights, and H.B. 2491, which is designed to make facts about noise impacts available to prospective buyers of property near airports. The measure allows local governments to designate "airport impact areas" in regions where noise levels exceed 65 decibels. The information will be available through county recorders' offices.