SECOND REGULAR SESSION
92ND GENERAL ASSEMBLY
INTRODUCED BY REPRESENTATIVES SMITH (118) (Sponsor), LIPKE, DIXON, CROWELL,
SCHLOTTACH, STEVENSON AND BISHOP (Co-sponsors).
Read 1st time February 12, 2004, and copies ordered printed.
STEPHEN S. DAVIS, Chief Clerk
AN ACT
To repeal sections 251.160, 251.170, 251.180, and 251.190, RSMo, and to enact in lieu thereof four new sections relating to local planning.
Be it enacted by the General Assembly of the state of Missouri, as follows:
Section A. Sections 251.160, 251.170, 251.180, and 251.190, RSMo, are repealed and four new sections enacted in lieu thereof, to be known as sections 251.160, 251.170, 251.180, and 251.190, to read as follows:
251.160. 1. For the purpose of sections 251.010 to 251.440, the following terms mean:
(1) "Director", the director of the department of economic development;
(2) "Governing body", the board, body or persons in which the powers of a local unit are vested;
(3) "Local governmental units" or "local units" includes cities, villages, towns, unincorporated areas of counties adopting a plan, and counties;
(4) "Population", the population of a local unit as shown by the last federal census or by any subsequent population estimate certified as acceptable by the director;
(5) "State office", the department of economic development;
(6) "Transportation planning boundary", the portion of the boundary of a metropolitan planning organization which is located in Missouri, as established pursuant to 23 U.S.C., section 134, which defines the area in which a metropolitan planning organization has responsibility for transportation planning.
2. A regional planning commission may be created by the governor upon petition in the form of a resolution by the governing body of a local governmental unit and the holding of a public hearing on such petition. If the petition shall be joined in by the governing bodies of all the local units in the proposed region, including the county commission of any county, part or all of which is in the proposed region, the governor may dispense with the hearing. Notice of any public hearing shall be given by the governor by mail at least ten days in advance to the clerk of each local unit in the proposed region. If the governor finds that there is a need for a regional planning commission, and if the governing bodies of local units within the proposed region which include over fifty percent of the population as determined by the last decennial census of the United States shall consent to the formation of such regional planning commission, the governor may create the regional planning commission by order and designate the area and boundaries of the commission's jurisdiction, taking into account the elements of homogeneity based upon, but not limited to, such consideration as topographic and geographic conformations, extent of urban development, the existence of special or acute agricultural, forestry, conservation or other rural problems, uniformity of social or economic interests and values, park and recreational needs, civil defense, or the existence of physical, social and economic problems of a regional character.
3. Notwithstanding the provisions of section 64.530, RSMo, the creation of a regional planning commission and a local unit's participation in and adoption of plans prepared by the regional planning commission shall not require a referendum; except that, this provision shall not extend to the adoption of county zoning laws or regulations under sections 64.620 to 64.690, RSMo.
4. No provision of sections 251.010 to 251.440 shall be construed to impair or affect in any way the legal existence, powers, or functions of any planning commission or other organization, public or private, in such areas which heretofore has been constituted or designated by resolutions approved by the governing bodies of the local units containing the majority of the population of such area for the purpose of conducting comprehensive planning, including transportation planning under or in conformity with the requirements of any statute of the United States or any regulation issued thereunder; and any such previously constituted planning commission or organization shall be governed in all respects by the resolutions of the governing bodies of the local units which constitute such planning commissions or organizations, by the provisions of this section, or by other applicable law.
5. A regional planning commission within a metropolitan statistical area of more than five hundred thousand in population, which area does not contain a city not within a county, and which commission is acting as a metropolitan planning organization pursuant to state and federal law, may only change its transportation planning boundary with the concurrence of the governor.
251.170. 1. The office of administration is hereby designated as the official state planning agency for the purpose of providing planning assistance to counties, unincorporated areas within counties, municipalities, metropolitan planning areas, and regional planning commissions herein created when requested by such local governmental unit or planning commission to do so, and for such purposes is authorized to:
(1) Contract with public agencies or private persons or organizations for any purposes of sections 251.010 to 251.440;
(2) Delegate any of its functions to any other state agency authorized to perform such functions, except that responsibility for such functions shall remain solely with the state office;
(3) Require or receive reimbursement from any political subdivision or subdivisions or regional planning commissions for the actual cost of planning assistance or planning work, when such assistance or planning has been requested by the political subdivision or commission; except that, no reimbursement shall be required or received for such costs to the extent that such costs are covered by federal grants;
(4) Provide technical assistance to local governments that request it for the development of local planning ordinances and regulations;
(5) Encourage local governments to engage in planning, regulatory, and development approaches that promote and encourage comprehensive planning;
(6) Prepare and distribute model ordinances, manuals, and other technical publications that promote and encourage comprehensive planning. The office of administration shall make all possible use of existing model ordinances, manuals, and other technical publications that promote and encourage comprehensive planning and that were prepared by regional planning commissions, local government entities, and other organizations;
(7) Research and report upon the results and impact of activities funded by the grants or other financial assistance;
(8) Support local planning efforts in communities with limited financial means;
(9) Support planning efforts that include one or more units of local government or planning agencies working together;
(10) Make grants to units of local government to develop, update, administer, and implement plans, land development regulations, development incentives, market feasibility studies, and environmental assessments that promote and encourage the principles of comprehensive planning.
2. From all regional planning commissions to which it provides planning assistance pursuant to this section, the office of administration shall gather information to identify expenditures of such commissions which are or would be eligible to be used to generate matching funds under block grant programs, including but not limited to community development block grant programs. The office of administration shall report any such expenditures which are so eligible to the department of economic development within thirty days of determining that such expenditures are so eligible. The department of economic development shall provide the office of administration with information deemed necessary by the commissioner of administration to implement the provisions of this subsection. For any fiscal year in which a regional planning commission which receives planning assistance from the office of administration does not provide the office of administration with information necessary to implement the provisions of this subsection, the office of administration shall not distribute general revenue funds to that regional planning commission in the following fiscal year. Any regional planning authority shall have thirty days to cure any alleged defect prior to the withholding of any funds.
3. The office of administration may promulgate rules establishing standards and procedures for determining eligibility for the grants, regulating the use of funds under the grants, and requiring periodic reporting of the results and impact of activities funded by the grants. No rule or portion of a rule promulgated pursuant to the authority of this section shall become effective unless it has been promulgated pursuant to chapter 536, RSMo.
4. No individual grant disbursed after August 28, 2004, under the state and regional planning and community development act shall have a duration of more than twenty-four months. The office of administration, in the determination of grantees, may also seek an even balance of grants within metropolitan regions.
5. In any county, unincorporated area within a county, or municipality receiving assistance under the state and regional planning and community development act to write or revise a plan, any land-use arrangements for residential, commercial, industrial, public, or other purposes made within five years after such plan is adopted shall be consistent with the new or revised plan.
251.180. Comprehensive planning, state and regional, shall include, but not be limited to, the planning for the following:
(1) Public water systems;
(2) Storm water drainage and flood control systems;
(3) Sanitary sewerage systems;
(4) Integrated transportation systems;
(5) Orderly land-use arrangements for residential, commercial, industrial and public and other purposes;
(6) Local, area-wide and state governmental services coordinated with federal governmental services insofar as may be feasible;
(7) Solid waste disposal systems or facilities;
(8) Educational facilities;
(9) Open space, park and recreational areas;
(10) Improved standards of community aesthetics and facilities design;
(11) General living conditions and environmental health;
(12) Community health and hospital needs and related facilities; [and]
(13) The coordination of planning activities for all federal assistance and grant-in-aid programs, which require comprehensive planning as prerequisites for eligibility;
(14) Natural resources;
(15) Community goals and standards;
(16) Police and fire facilities;
(17) Housing;
(18) Telecommunications infrastructure;
(19) Economic development;
(20) Public participation in the community;
(21) Natural hazards;
(22) Agriculture and forest preservation;
(23) Human services;
(24) Community design; and
(25) Historic preservation.
251.190. The state office shall have the following functions and powers:
(1) To provide general planning assistance to and for any county, municipality, or regional planning commission when requested by such local governmental unit or planning commission to do so;
(2) To contract for, receive and utilize grants or other financial assistance made available by the state or federal government or from any other source, public or private, for performing the functions of the state office. Nothing in this section shall prevent or impair the powers of the regional commissions or other state agencies or local governmental units to contract for, receive or utilize grants directly from the federal or local governments or from any other source, public or private;
(3) To provide assistance and coordination upon request in matters relating to planning to state agencies and to local and regional planning units. All present governmental units who engage in planning activities, including but not limited to state agencies, other than the planning activities of the division of commerce and industrial development, which are transferred to the state office created herein, planning agencies or commissions of local governmental units who are supported by local, state or federal funds, shall in no way be affected, prevented or impaired in such planning activities;
(4) To develop a comprehensive state plan;
(5) To employ or retain private not-for-profit entities, regional planning commissions, local government entities, and universities to advise, prepare, or conduct the preparation of the model ordinances, manuals, and other technical publications;
(6) To distribute any model ordinances, manuals, and other technical publications prepared under the state and regional planning and community development act to all counties and municipalities, regional planning commissions, the Missouri state library, all public libraries in this state, and to other organizations and libraries at the office of administration's discretion;
(7) To perform such other functions and activities consistent with the general purposes of sections 251.150 to 251.440.