Agenda - Planning Commission - 02/05/2009

Home

Zonin"g Bulletin the case, the people's constitutionally-provided initiative power would be ineffective and illusory. The court concluded that because ~ 20A-7-401 prohibited a legal right provided to the people by the Constitution, it was unconstitutional. Accordingly, SPC's argument that Hansen's initia- tive must be prohibited in light of ~ 20A-7 -401's ban on voter initiation of land use ordinance necessarily failed. " The court next rejected SPC's alternative argument that Hansen's ini- tiative should be prohibited because it was administrative in nature and thus outside the scope of the voter's constitutionally-provided legislative power. The court agreed that only matters of a legislative nature were within the scope of. the people's constitutionally-provided legislative power. Initiative measures that addressed administrative action were not suitable for legislative action by the people through initiative. An initia- tive seeking to undo an accomplished action taken pursuant to existing law (such as adoption of budgets) would most likely be considered an administrative action. On the other hand, an initiative seeking "to en- act or modify a statute or ordinance of broad application," most likely would be considered legislative in nature. The court found that Hansen's initiative "modified the framework" to be applied to all coal-fired power generation facilities seeking a conditional use permit in the county. As such, the court concluded that it was clearly legislative in nature and therefore within the people's constitutionally-provided initiative power. See also: Bird v. Sorenson, 16 Utah 2d1, 394 P.2d 808 (1964) (rejected by, Quinn v. Town of Dodgeville, 120 Wis. 2d 304, 354 N. W.2d 747 (Ct. App. 1984)). Case Note: The court noted that the only way voter"initiative power could be prohibited was if citizens gave the legislature the constitu- tional authority to suspend or forbid that poy.rer. . ~ .1" ", ./ ."! 6. . @ 2008 Thomson Reuters/West 50 .~\ J "') ., )