Utah
State Legislature
3/22/06
- Governor
Huntsman Vetoes HB100! Please call or write and thank him for
taking action!
Thanks
to your efforts, Governor Huntsman exercised his veto power and killed
HB100. Thank you for taking action and helping to defeat this
bill.
HB100
would have require environmental groups to post large bonds in order
to pursue litigation. This bill would have also very likely cost
taxpayers $100,000 per year to manage. Organizations and citizens
ability to seek litigation is a key part of the designed checks and
balances and this bill would have crippled that balance. Please
call or
write Governor Huntsman today and thank him for his veto of this
misguided
legislation.
You can call the Governors office at 801-538-1000 or fax him at
538-1528.
You can send Governor Huntsman comments via e-mail by visiting:
http://goca.utah.gov/form_comment.html
If
you are able, please take some time to thank Governor Huntsman for his
veto
of this bill.
Thank
you!
Here
is some sample text from letters sent to the Governor on HB100:
Dear Governor
Huntsman,
I am writing
to express my opposition to House Bill 100 and ask you to veto this
bill. Citizens, including environmental groups, have the right to
access the courts. HB 100 effectively strips this right from
environmental organizations. HB 100 would allow developers and industry
to reap the
benefits, while your constituents would be left with the negative
damage caused by unconstrained development. The public would
left with no
recourse to repair what damage may be left in the wake of
environmentally damaging projects.
In addition,
HB 100 is blatantly and fundamentally unfair, as it targets only those
groups who represent citizens interested in protecting the environment.
Our courts are meant to provide a civil vehicle to remedy wrongs for
citizens. It should not be a remedy that is available only to those who
pay. HB 100 seeks to strip federally enacted and judicially upheld
remedies from those who can least afford it. In summary, please veto
House Bill 100.
2/1/06 - Senator Mansell Yanks SB170
Senator
Mansell has pulled SB170, his bill to gut property rights and zoning
ordinances. Take a second and pat yourselves on the back for
creating
a healthy amount of "public clamor" over this misguided piece of
legislation.
Now get ready because we haven't seen the last of his efforts at a
giveaway to developers. Senator Mansell plans to re-introduce the
bill, minus the parts that even he admits were "over the top" but we
have yet to see the language. We will be sure to update you
as things
develop.
To follow this and other bills at the state legislature see:
www.utahsenate.org/perl/spage/index.pl
and enter the bill's number in the space provided.
A RADICAL RE-WRITE
OF ZONING LAWS
Senator Al Mansell (R-Sandy) has introduced a bill that would tear up
planning and zoning regulations in virtually every municipality in
Utah. This new legislation, more than sixty pages long,
completely
overturns a system that had just recently been amended. "I'm
blown
away by the scope of this legislation," said Utah Chapter
Chair Al
Herring, "It hinders cities from charging impact fees; it
micro-manages how a city can lay out cul-de-sacs; it even criminalizes
what might be an honest mistake by city employees who interpret
the
regulations incorrectly."
WHAT IT MEANS TO YOU
With cities largely unable to turn down proposals from developers, it
means new houses could pop up on steep slopes above your house.
It
means that the vacant lot in your neighborhood might be developed as a
fast-food
restaurant or an auto-body shop. And if you, your neighbors and
everyone else in town rises up and persuades the city council to ban
that particular type of development, it tells the judge to void the
council's decision because it was "based on public clamor." (lines
988-990)
ACT NOW OR KISS YOUR PROPERTY VALUE GOODBYE
This legislation will be reviewed in the Senate Government Operations
& Political Subdivisions Committee as soon as this Friday, 27
January.
Call your senator to say this legislation must be stopped. You
can
find your senator's phone and contact info from the district maps at http://se15.utahsenate.org/perl/spage/distmapal.pl.
BACKGROUND
The Property Rights Ombudsman Craig Call, a Utah state official,
prepared a summary of this bill's impact. Some numbered excerpts
from
that analysis are below. To read the whole text, check out http://www.le.state.ut.us/~2006/bills/sbillint/sb0170.htm.
10. Removes aesthetics from the list of considerations to be included
in preparation of the general plan, as well as the issues related to
congestion and "sprawl." Line 485-486.
12. Eliminates the provision that a general plan may consider
regulation of the use of land on hillsides. Line 568.
17. Nullifies temporary land use regulations (TZO or "moratorium")
unless adopted by ordinance, and prohibits the delay of consideration
or disapproval of an application due to a temporary land use
regulation. Lines 653-655.
33. Prohibits the denial of an application on technical or scientific
grounds if the applicant provides expert testimony to support approval
and there is no equivalent expert testimony to support
disapproval.
Lines 780-785.
56. Provides that municipal officials who violates a land use ordinance
or the land use statute is guilty of a class B misdemeanor. Lines
1054-0155.