Agenda - Planning Commission - 01/06/2011

Home

Zoning Bulletin October 10, 2010 1Volume 41 No. 19 Zoning News from Around the Nation ALABAMA The U.S. Justice Department recently announced that the City of Satsuma has "agreed to pay $64,500 and change its zoning laws to settle a long - running housing discrimination lawsuit." Satsuma's zon- ing laws prohibited group homes in all residential areas. Federal au- thorities contended this violated the Fair Housing Act. An attorney for the city had argued that the federal position conflicted with "Alabama state law, which requires zoning ordinances to separate residential and commercial buildings." Source: Press- Register;:/lblog.al.com CONNECTICUT Reportedly, the towns of Hamden and North Haven are considering zoning regulations that would "ban outdoor wood - burning furnaces be- cause of their potential impact on public health and the environment." Source: Connecticut Post Chronicle; www.ctpostchronicle.com MICHIGAN The Emmet County Board of Commissioners recently approved "a resolution to enact a six -month moratorium in the zoning code to pro- hibit the commercial sale or production of medical marijuana ...." Source: Petoskey News - Review; www.petoskeynews.com MISSOURI The City of Columbia expected a final vote on October 4 on a pro- posed ordinance that would regulate the size and placement of soil piles by developers. "The proposed ordinance would restrict soil piles to a height of no more than 40 feet and a ground area of no more than 3 acres." The ordinance would also restrict piles to certain distances from commercial or residential structures, roads and streams or wa- terways— with distance dependent on size of the pile. The ordinance would further require developers to seed their soil piles with grass to prevent dust scattering and runoff. Source: Columbia Missourian; www.columbiamissourian.com © 2010 Thomson Reuters 11 23