Growing Smart Legislative Guidebook
Model Statutes for Planning and the Management of Change
By Stuart Meck, FAICP
Our planning tools date from another era. They are shopworn and inadequate for the job at hand. Just as states and municipalities experimented with new enabling legislation and local land-use controls prior to the Standard Acts, so too since the 1970s have they begun again to refashion their planning statutes. Some states, like Florida, Maryland, Oregon, Tennessee, Vermont, Washington, and Wisconsin have already wholly or partially revamped their planning statutes in order to provide choices and tools for managing growth and change. In others, there are efforts (or least discussions) currently underway on statutory reform. This process of reexamination is not only inevitable, but it is desirable if communities are to respond effectively to change.
To help in this process of reexamination, the American Planning Association has prepared this Legislative Guidebook, which contains model statutes for planning and the management of change as well as commentary that highlights key issues in the use of the statutory tools by states, regional planning agencies, and local governments in their use. In the belief that there is no "one-size-fits all," the model statutes are presented as alternatives that can be adapted by states in response to their particular needs.
Details
About the Author
Stuart Meck, FAICP
My website: http://bloustein.rutgers.edu/meck/
Table of Contents
Preface
Foreward and Acknowledgments
Introduction
Chapter 1 – Initiating Planning Statute Reform
Chapter 2 – Purposes and Grant of Power
Chapter 3 – Definitions
Chapter 4 – State Planning
State Planning Agency Organization
State Plans
State Plans
Procedures Related to State Plan Making, Adoption, and Implementation
State Capital Budget and Capital Improvement Program
Chapter 5 – State Land-Use Control
Siting State Facilities
Areas of Critical State Concern
Developments of Regional Impact
Chapter 6 – Regional Planning
Organizational Structure
Plan Preparation
Procedures for Plan Review and Adoption
Relationships and Agreements with Other Units of Government
Miscellaneous Provisions
Designation of Regional Planning Agency as Substate District Organization
Chapter 7 – Local Planning
General Provisions
Organizational Structure
The Local Comprehensive Plan
Procedures for Plan Review, Adoption, and Amendment
Implementation; Agreements with Other Government and Nonprofit Organizations
Chapter 8 – Land Development Regulations
Zoning
Review of Plats and Plans
Uniform Development Standards
Development Rights and Privileges
Exactions, Impact Fees, and Sequencing of Development
Development Agreements
Chapter 9 – Special and Environmental Land Development Regulations and Land-Use Incentives
Chapter 10 – Administration and Judicial Review of Land-Use Decisions
General Provisions
Unified Development Permit Review Process
Land-Use Review Board
Administrative Actions and Remedies
Judicial Review of Land-Use Decisions
Chapter 11 – Enforcement of Land Development Regulations
General Provisions
Administrative Procedure
Judicial Procedure
Chapter 12 – Integrating State Environmental Policy Acts with Local Planning
Chapter 13 – Financing Required Planning
Local Tax Financing Of Planning
Financial and Technical Assistance for Planning
Chapter 14 – Tax Equity Devices and Tax Relief Programs
Regional [Metropolitan] Tax-Base Sharing
Intergovernmental Agreements
Redevelopment and Tax Relief
Agricultural Districts
Chapter 15 – State Level Geographic Information Systems and Public Records of Plans, Land Development Regulations, and Development Permits
Statewide Geographic Information Systems
Public Records of Plans, Land Development Regulations, and Development Permits
Appendix
Statements from Members of the Growing Smart Directorate
Index