December 1999

By James Lawlor

Massachusetts: Two to watch. Two important bills, concerning community development and community preservation, are advancing through the legislature, reports Lyn Billman-Golemme, AICP, vice-president for legislation and policy.

In October, the House-Senate Natural Resources and Agriculture Committee unanimously approved the Sustainable Development Act and referred it to the ways and means committees of both houses. The bill is the product of a working group, chaired by state representative Douglas Petersen and state senator Marc Pacheco, that has been meeting since February. The chapter was represented in the working group.

The measure's stated purpose is to encourage development that promotes safe, healthy, and livable communities; enhances the environment; and preserves natural resources. The bill calls for government agencies to coordinate land-use planning with the private sector, promote alternatives to low-density development, and address planning in a comprehensive way.

The act would make $35 million available to communities to develop new comprehensive plans or to revise their old ones in accordance with the principles of the sustainable development act. Plans must be developed within five years. Regional planning agencies would be required to develop regional plans with input from municipalities. State agencies would be required to develop spending plans that are consistent with local and regional plans.

The Community Preservation Act is designed to provide funding for acquiring and preserving open space, historic structures and landscapes, and low- and moderate-income housing. Funding mechanisms in the senate version, passed in September, are a local real estate transfer tax and a property tax surcharge. The house bill, passed in early November, opts for a combination of the transfer tax, park fee increases, and a special fee on certain court filings. The differences will have to be ironed out in a conference committee.

Florida: Opinion survey. The Florida Department of Community Affairs is surveying various interest groups—including the APA chapter—about the comprehensive planning process, growth management, and future planning. Participants in the survey, says chapter executive director Marcia Elder, include land-use professionals, local elected officials, citizen activists, environmentalists, and developers.

Elder notes that the department's new secretary, Steven Seibert, has made revision of the growth management process a priority. He had intended to propose changes to the legislature next spring, but Gov. Jeb Bush's administration decided to study the issues longer and seek public input on current and projected policies. As a result, the department's legislative priorities this year will shift to emergency management and the state building code.

Meanwhile, says Elder, the chapter will be watching for the final report being compiled by the senate's Comprehensive Planning Committee. An interim report issued by the committee in September recommended consolidating DCA's preliminary review period, during which the department decides whether a comprehensive plan amendment should be reviewed, with the 30-day state and regional agency comment period.

The report also recommended that local governments be given the option of exempting certain areas from comprehensive plan amendment review; such areas might include urban infill and redevelopment areas, built-out areas, and areas covered by sector plans.

Washington: License fees lowered. Initiative 695, approved last month by state voters, reduces the license plate fee for motor vehicles and requires voter approval for increases. The chapter's executive committee voted in September to actively oppose the initiative, charging that it would negatively affect funding for state and local transportation programs. The measure was also opposed by such corporations as Boeing and Microsoft, the state's Democratic Party, environmental organizations, and many public officials.

The initiative limits license tag fees to $30; in contrast, the current fees amount to 2.2 percent of the vehicle's value and can amount to several hundred dollars per year.

Data collected by the chapter indicated that over the next two years the initiative could mean a loss of $428 million to local transit districts, $143 million in highway funding, and $151 million for ferry operations and capital construction funding. Other losers will be the state air pollution control account and sales tax equalization accounts that help municipal and county government.

Maryland: Code changes proposed. A task force appointed by Gov. Parris Glendening has spent the past several months examining building codes and development regulations with an eye to identifying changes that would encourage infill development and reuse of older buildings. The group has developed several draft recommendations, which will be forwarded to the governor after citizens have had a chance to examine and comment on them.

The task force is composed of planners, architects, developers, county building code officials, and elected county and municipal officials. One subcommittee focused on reform of building codes, and the other studied development regulations. Among the draft recommendations is one calling for an integrated state rehabilitation code that would separate rehabilitation requirements from those for new construction.

The same recommendation would provide a tiered system of code compliance requirements that would vary in strictness according to the amount and complexity of work undertaken. The recommendation is based on the Nationally Applicable Recommended Rehabilitation Provisions developed under the aegis of HUD, with the aid of the National Association of Home Builders.

Another proposal would authorize local governments to enact a "prior use" ordinance that allows property owners to deviate from some zoning requirements in certain redevelopment projects. The task force is also developing a set of smart growth models and principles to aid local governments in drafting regulations that foster compact development. The models would include such tools as a mixed-use overlay zone and infill development standards.