Agenda - Planning Commission - 02/02/2017

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Zoning Bulletin December 10, 2016 I Volume 10 I Issue 23 concept of what the zoning ordinance should be, but rather their function is only to enforce the zoning ordinance in accordance with the applicable law." Thus, the court said that the Board, here, was required to 'apply the terms of the Zoning Ordinance "as written rather than deviating from those terms based on an unexpressed policy." Moreover, the court said that the Board "also ha[d] an obligation to construe the words of an ordinance as broadly as possible to give the landowner the benefit of the least restrictive use when interpreting its own Zoning Code." See also: Riverfront Development Group, LLC v. City of Harrisburg Zoning Hearing Bd., 109 A.3d 358 (Pa. Commw Ct. 2015). Zoning News from Around the Nation FLORIDA In early November, the Miami Beach Commission was expected to "debate an ordinance imposing a six-month zoning ban on medical -cannabis dispensa- ries, grow houses, delivery services, and any other medical -weed -related businesses." The 180-day ban would give the city time to enact laws related to "traffic, congestion, surrounding property values, demand for City services including inspections and increase police monitoring, and other aspects of the operation of dispensing facilities impacting the general welfare of the community." Source: Miami New Times; www.miaminewtimes.com MARYLAND In late October, the Baltimore City Council gave preliminary approval to "the first overhaul of zoning rules in more than 40 years." The overhaul of the zoning code, known as "TransForm Baltimore," "has been written to usher in an era of faster, simpler development. It includes changes intended to promote the reuse of the city's old buildings and encourage walkable neighborhoods of homes and businesses suited to 21 st-century tastes." "It also would add regula- tions for uses city officials want to deter." A final vote on the new zoning legislation was scheduled for November. Source: The Baltimore Sun; www.baltimoresun.com NEW YORK Reportedly, the "U.S. Attorney's Office plans to sue the City of Port Jervis on the grounds that a zoning law passed late last year violates federal law by banning places of worship from two downtown commercial districts." The U.S. Attorney's Office believes that the city has violated the equal terms pro- vision of the federal Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act by treating religious assemblies "on less than equal terms with non -religious assemblies." The City of Port Jervis maintains that it did not intend to violate the equal protection terms provisions of the federal statute, but determined © 2016 Thomson Reuters 11