May 2003

The Statehouse

By James Lawlor

Florida: Property Rights and Everglades. The bills proposing changes to the private property rights protection act mentioned in last month's column were merged in the house, but failed to gain a final floor vote before the regular session adjourned. The legislature did pass a bill (S.B. 1660) preempting county laws or regulations restricting agricultural operations that are also regulated by state or federal agencies. The law precludes counties from adopting regulations that are stricter than or duplicative of such regulations. A provision that would have severely limited counties' ability to downzone agricultural land was removed in committee.

Ignoring vociferous protests from the environmental community and concerns voiced by the state's congressional delegation, the legislature passed S.B. 626, a bill amending the 1994 Everglades Forever Act, to soften requirements to reduce phosphate discharges into water entering the Everglades. The bill, pushed by the sugarcane growers, would have pushed out the deadline for reducing phosphate discharges to 10 parts per billion 20 years. The original deadline had been 2006. As enacted, the bill extended the deadline 10 years, but also included language requiring compliance "to the maximum extent practicable" at the "earliest practicable date." Environmental groups attacked this language as creating a loophole for agricultural interests to slip through. They urged Gov. Bush to veto the bill.

The governor signed the bill, but asked the legislature to delete the objectionable language at a special session called to enact a budget for the upcoming fiscal year. The legislature complied, but environmentalists still complain the bill is flawed and may cause problems for the state. The federal judge overseeing the consent decree that led to the original Everglades cleanup law, William Hoeveler, has said that has far as he is concerned, the original law still governs the timetable for cleaning up the Everglades, at least as to federal lands.

Gov. Bush's proposal to merge the Department of Community Affairs, which oversees planning at the state level, with the Department of State passed the house, but died in a senate committee. The governor has indicated he will put off the proposal until next year's legislative session. The chapter supported the merger, so long as it would lead to better growth management in Florida. 1000 Friends of Florida took a similar position, but also supports a meeting of affected interest groups this coming summer to generate a bill for the next legislative session that would include appropriate policy changes with the merger.

Contact Sheri Coven, chapter executive director, 850-201-3272, fapa@floridaplanning.org.

South Carolina: Mediation and Continuing Education. Senate Bill 205, approved by the legislature May 15, features two unlikely bedfellows: mediation of land use disputes and education requirements for planning officials.

The bill allows landowners appealing decisions of zoning boards of appeals, boards of architectural review, and planning commissions to file with their notice of appeal a request for pre-litigation mediation. It also provides that the parties may agree to have the appeal placed on the non-jury calendar and that if any party requests, appeals may be given precedence over other civil cases at the judge's discretion.

The bill also establishes educational requirements for appointed local planning officials and professional employees. Officials and employees are required to take at least six hours of orientation training during the first year of appointment or employment and complete at least three hours of continuing education annually thereafter. It creates a five-member advisory committee on educational requirements, one of whom is to be a planner recommended by the South Carolina chapter of APA. Certain persons are exempted from the educational requirements, including holders of AICP certification, persons with advanced planning degrees or advanced degrees in planning-related fields, and persons licensed to practice law in South Carolina.

Contact legislative committee chair Harold LeaMond, Jr., AICP, hleamond@co.berkeley.sc.us.

Arizona: Rezoning, Eminent Domain, Lighting. As the legislature neared a late-May adjournment, a bill that would have required a landowner's consent before a city could rezone the land remained in committee. H. 2035 would require landowner consent if the rezoning changed the land's classification, restricted its use, or reduced its value.

The legislature substantially modified the law relating to exercise of eminent domain, replacing references to "redevelopment areas" with "slum or blighted areas." A municipality will not be able to exercise eminent domain unless it determines that the blighted condition cannot be alleviated without transfer of ownership. Other provisions require public hearings, notice to landowners, and approval of the use of eminent domain by a two-thirds majority of the city council.

Gov. Janet Napolitano signed a bill (S. 1218) that, with certain exceptions, requires public buildings to use fully or partially shielded outdoor light fixtures to reduce nighttime light pollution. Counties, transportation projects relating to state or interstate highways or bridges, and construction or renovation to the state capitol building are exempted.

Contact legislative committee chair Debra Stark, debras@peoriaaz.com.