May 1999

By James Lawlor

Virginia: Growth bills falter. As feared, the 1999 session of the Virginia General Assembly was not a good one for growth management advocates. Of 15 growth-related bills the chapter tracked, 11 were buried in committee. Among the bills supported by the chapter was one that would have allowed all counties to restrict building permits if planned capital improvements were deemed inadequate.

One bill that made it through, with the chapter's approval, allows local governments to require special-use permits for certain kinds of residential development—cluster development, town centers, and development on steep slopes. The legislature also extended for another year a legislative committee charged with studying development patterns. An amendment added two items to the committee's agenda: conditional zoning and the growth of exactions.

According to the Coalition of High-Growth Counties, centered in northern Virginia, developer organizations had the upper hand in this session. The coalition promises to be back, better organized, next year. So will the APA chapter, says legislative chair Debrarae Karnes. A task force appointed at the chapter's annual meeting in March will study the need for new tools to manage growth in the state and report to the chapter leadership by July.

Iowa: Unfinished business. In March, I reported that a legislative commission had proposed a measure to discourage urban sprawl and encourage coordinated planning. The proposal became a study bill (SSB 1963), which was approved by the senate's Small Business, Economic Development and Tourism committee, chaired by state senator Mary Lundby. Lundby was also the cochair of the legislative commission.

The study bill was referred to the senate's Local Government committee, which converted it to a regular bill, SF 293, making a few changes in the process. Meanwhile, state representative Edward Fallon introduced another growth bill in the house, HF 340. That measure, which is based on the legislation enacted in Tennessee last year, caught the eye of the senate Local Government committee, which then decided to scrap SF 293 and substitute a version of the Fallon bill, S 3158.

Senator Lundby says she cannot support the new bill because it's more reform than the legislature is likely to digest, and senate leaders have put it on the "unfinished business" calendar. At this point, says legislative committee chair Erik Lundy, the chapter hopes the measure will get some work over the summer and come up again next year. Meanwhile, he notes, several pending bills concerning annexation and limits on cities' powers to condemn agricultural land could have an impact on comprehensive planning legislation.

Illinois: Help on the way? A bill that would help local governments develop land-use regulations embodying smart growth principles stands a good chance of reaching the senate floor, chapter legislative committee chair Sharon Caddigan, AICP, reports.

The measure, an amendment to SB 907, which was a placeholder bill, is sponsored by state senator Kirk Dillard of Hinsdale. Its genesis was a request by the Chicago-area Metropolitan Planning Council asking that APA's Growing Smart staff draft a bill to help local governments prepare growth strategies.

The bill would authorize the state Department of Commerce and Community Affairs to make technical assistance grants to counties and municipalities for the purpose of developing and implementing comprehensive plans and other land-use regulations. It would also authorize the department to prepare model ordinances and technical publications to aid local governments, and to conduct training programs.

South Carolina: Takings on the table. Legislative committee chair Sharon Richardson reports that representatives of several organizations, including the chapter, have been meeting with state Sen.Philip Levantis since January to discuss smart growth issues.

The chapter is also following two takings bills that are under consideration by the legislature. One would require compensation for a loss of property value caused by regulatory actions. The chapter has taken a position formally opposing the measure. The other bill would authorize agency directors and administrative law judges to grant variances to resolve takings complaints against state agencies. At press time, the chapter had not taken an official position on the bill.

Texas: Licensing flap. A bill introduced in March by state senator Chris Harris has stirred debate in the chapter, president David Gattis, AICP, reports. SB 1362 would require all municipal planners to be licensed by the state real estate commission. So far, Gattis says, response has been evenly divided between those who think planners should be licensed but not by the real estate commission and those who oppose the whole idea of licensing.

Another issue is vesting. The chapter has joined with the Texas Municipal League to combat efforts to revive the state's vested rights law. In the last session of the legislature, Gattis reports, the law was repealed more or less by accident. The chapter's position is that the repeal should remain on the books because there were many practical difficulties in implementing the law. Developers, meanwhile, argue that the law is necessary to ensure that the rules of the game do not change in mid-project. A bill to reinstate the vesting law, HB 1704, has been reported out of committee.