Agenda - Planning Commission - 07/06/1999

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The Ano~lymity of Use: Battered Women's Shelter A Colorado community found itself in a bind recently when a local battered women's shelter applied for a permit to undergo a building expansion. City planners became concerned when they learned that the community's development review process required public notification of property owners within 200 feet of the development. It was conceivable to shelter administrators that such notification would generate unwanted public exposure and jeopardize the safety of shelter residents. The ordinance could offer no protection of the use, prompting the city to seek legal counsel. Officials decided that nearby property owners would still be notified of the development, but the facility would be identified as a boarding or rooming house with an office rather than as a battered women's shelter. The city's ordinance had defined this type of use as permitted in the district. A director on the shelter's board acted as the applicant. Although the city was sympathetic to the concerns of shelter administrators, the notification requirements of the ordinance had to be honored. "We were obligated to get due process," says one city planner. City administrators do not expect any objections from adjacent property owners. City planners became concerned when they learned that the community's development review process required public notification of property owners. Another Colorado community is protecting the location of these facilities through a Battered Women's Homes provision in its ordinance. The city council exempts battered women's homes from any public review, including but not limited to a public hearing. Within 30 days of receipt ora completed application for the establishment ora battered women's home, the planning director sets a date for a closed administrative review of the application with planning department staff and the applicant. The ordinance ora third community in Colorado contains a Safehouses; Protection of Location provision. Thirty-one days following the approval ora special use permit for a safehouse, the city clerk removes or excises all information concerning the Zoning News is a monthly nev,~lettcr published by the Ameelcan Planning A.~ociatlon. Subscriptions are available for $55 (U.S.) and $75 {£oteign), Frank S..So, Executive Direc~oG William IL Klein, Director of Research. Zoning News h produced ar AP& Jim Soho-ab and Mike Datddson, Editon; Shannon Arm.tong, Barry Bzin, Jerome Cleland, Fa}' Dolnkk, Saniay Jeer, Megan l.ewi~, Ma.9~ Morris, Becki Rerflaff, R--"porrcl'~. C)mthla C~e~k..i, ,.*~.~L~nt Editor. L/~ Bar,on, E~ign and Produc-Jon, Copyrlg~l 01999 by American Planning Association, 122 S. Michlgan Ave., Suite Chicago, IL 60603. Thc American Planning Assod:~ion also h~ offices at 1776 Massachusetts Ave.. N.W., Washington, DC 20036. AB n'ghu reserved. No p~rt ofthis publication may be reproduced or utilized in any form or by any meava, elecTronlc or mechanical, including photocopying, te~ording, or by any inl'ormadon storage and renewal v/stern, wkhout permk, aion in writing from thc American Planning A.uod.ion. Printed on recycled paper, including 50-70% recycled fiber and 10% postconsumer waste. location of the safehouse from every document in the possession of the city. The city clerk retains all documents; no other city deparrment, employee, or elected official may do so. However, battered women's shelters are not exempt from posting and notification requirements. The Planning Advisory Service will make these ordinances available to PAS subscribers. Michael David-son State Property Rights Laws: The Impacts of Those Laws on My Land Harvey M. Jacobs. Lincoln Institute of Land Policy, 113 Brattle St., Cambridge, MA 02138. 1999. 32pp. $14 (25percent dlscount for 20 or more). $3.50 shipping and handling on first copy, $.50 for each additional copy. Property rights laws in some form have been enacted in 26 states in the past decade, so this assessment of their impacts is a timely one for planners. The author suggests that, for the most part, their feared impacts have not materialized. A compensation law adopted by Mississippi in 1994 has not produced a single cause of action. The author attributes this to the lack of'an organized constituency based on real grievances, saying that most laws simply result from the advocacy of a lawmaker in tune with the ideology of property rights. The report breaks down property rights statutes into four categories involving assessment of new regulations for impact on property rights, compensation, conflict resolution, and other approaches, and then analyzes the track record of different kinds of laws in Kansas, Mississippi, Florida, and Arizona. Better Site Design: A Handbook for Changing Development Rules in Your Community Prepared for the Site Planning Roundtable by the Center for Watershed Protection, 8391 Main St., Ellicott City, MD 2]043. August 1)98. 210pp. $35. Pulling together under one cover the resources gathered in this volume to address land-use impacts on stormwater runoff and water quality is an impressive feat. This thorough and practical handbook is designed for use by planners, developers, engineers, and building officials. It provides a set of 22 development principles covering issues like street design, parking codes, setbacks and frontages, sidewalks, and other · issues affecting impervious surface cover, as well as open space design, buffer systems, and tree conservation. It includes a variety of references to other resources from local governments, professional associations, and federal agencies. This report is well worth adding to any planning library.