AB 881

This bill provides a procedure for towns to withdraw from coverage of a county

zoning ordinance and standardizes statutory language related to the continuing

effect of zoning requirements upon a change of the authority with jurisdiction over

zoning matters.

Under the bill, beginning five years after the effective date of the bill, a town

board in any county may withdraw the town from coverage of the county zoning

ordinance and county development plan. In order to effectuate the withdrawal, the

town must provide certain notices to the county clerk and must enact a town zoning

ordinance, a comprehensive plan, and an official map.

Under current law, if a town board has been granted the authority to exercise

village powers, the town board may enact zoning ordinances using the zoning

statutes that are used by cities and villages, subject to a number of conditions. If the

county in which the town is located has enacted a county zoning ordinance, town

zoning ordinances may not take effect until such ordinances are approved either by

a town meeting or by a referendum vote of the electors of the town and are approved

by the county board. Also under current law, a county zoning ordinance may not take

effect in a town unless it has been approved by the town board. With an exception,

once a town board has approved a county zoning ordinance, the town may not

withdraw its approval.

Also, several provisions in current law provide for continuity in zoning

regulation when the governmental unit that has the authority to regulate zoning

changes. For example, under one such provision, when an area that had been subject

to zoning regulation by a county becomes subject to city zoning, the statutes provide

that regulations imposed under the county continue in effect until changed by the

city. The bill revises these provisions to be clearer and more consistent. In general,

these provisions now specify that the prior zoning ordinance and any regulations,

approvals, and conditions imposed under the prior zoning ordinance remain in effect

until specifically changed by the new zoning authority.