Agenda - Planning Commission - 03/01/2012

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Zoning Bulletin January 10, 2012 1 Volume 6 No. 1 INDIANA The .Greene County Commissioners plan to formally request District 62 State Rep. Matt Ubelhor (Republican-Bloomfield) introduce legislation when the General Assembly convenes in early January, allowing a zoning question to be placed on the November 2012 General Election ballot. The zoning referendum bill would be specific only to Greene County. Current- ly, Greene County is one of eight counties in the state that does not have some kind of land-use planning ordinance currently in place. Source: Greene County Daily World; ht MASSACHUSETTS The commonwealth's new casino legislation requires a local ballot ref- erendum before any developer can win a casino license. Source: Boston Globe; www.boston.com NEW JERSEY Bills pending in the state legislature (S-2950) and (A-4128) allow for "modifications to municipal land use approvals because of changed eco- nomics." The bills would allow certain property owners that have preex- isting land use approvals the ability to submit applications for "adaptive approvals" to the boards that issued the preexisting approvals in order to modify the terms and conditions of the preexisting approvals and current zoning. Among other things, the application would be required to specify the changes being requested and to demonstrate that: the current zoning or existing approval does not provide the property with an economically viable use; no feasible market exists for development of the property based upon the property's current zoning or existing approval; or financing for the development of the property under current zoning or the existing ap- proval is not readily available. The bill would require the approving board to grant an adaptive approval if it determines that the applicant has com- plied with the requirements set forth in the bill and that the application can be granted without substantial detriment to the public good, to the ex- tent it is not incompatible with the use of adjoining properties. Source: S-2950; http:11www.njleg.state.nj.us WISCONSIN Assembly Republicans recently introduced "a sweeping bill to streamline Wisconsin's mining regulations." The 183-page bill creates a new set of laws specifically for iron mining. Among its major provi- sions: the state's DNR "would have to approve or deny an iron mine application within 360 days of deeming the application complete" (Cur- rent state law does not lay out a deadline.); "contested case hearings on DNR permitting decisions would be eliminated"; only those directly injured by a mining operation could bring a lawsuit challenging DNR © 2012 Thomson Reuters 11