Agenda - Planning Commission - 11/03/2011

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Zoning Bulletin September 25, 2011 I Volume 5 I No. 18 proposed plan would not require compliance by localities, but would link local aid to compliance with the statewide goals. Localities would be offered incentives to follow the plan and "help `fast -track' growth where dense development already exists." Source: The Baltimore Sun; www.baltimoresun.com NEW YORK A Douglaston councilman has introduced two bills that "would en- able community boards and the borough president to fight decisions made by the city's Board of Standards and Appeals [(the `BSA')]." One bill would give local community boards and the Borough President the ability to appeal decisions made by the BSA. The appeal would then be heard by the City Council, which would vote on whether to grant the variance. Another bill proposes that the BSA be required to notify a property owner that they must apply for a new variance six months before their current one expires. Failure to do so would result in a fine. Source: Douglaston Patch; httb://douvlaston.tiatch.com PENNSYLVANIA Scranton Mayor Chris Doherty recently vetoed city council legislation that rezoned an area of the city from neighborhood commercial to medi- um -density residential. The rezone essentially blocked a proposed hous- ing project because the new zone did not permit apartments. The mayor said he vetoed the legislation because it was "flawed" in that it was il- legal and violated the city's Administrative Code, as well as local, state, and federal laws, including the Pennsylvania Human Relations Act and the federal Fair Housing and Civil Rights acts. Source: The Times -Tribune; httlb:llthetimes-tribune.com PENNSYLVANIA A South Fayette drilling ordinance is being challenged as "illegal" by a Texas -based company, Range Resources. Range Resources reportedly alleges that the ordinance enforces buffer zones around schools, hospi- tals, and certain commercial areas "that force a de facto moratorium on drilling throughout the entire township." Range Resources says that violates the portion of Pennsylvania's Municipalities Planning Code that requires all municipalities to "allow for reasonable development of min- erals" as part of any zoning ordinance. The company also alleges that the conditions of the ordinance violate the Fifth Amendment of the U.S. Constitution, which says private property cannot be taken for public use "without just compensation." Source: Pittsburgh Post -Gazette; www.post-gazette.com © 2011 Thomson Reuters 11