--- [log in to unmask] wrote:
> From: [log in to unmask]
>
> The sooner you can call on this, the better.
> Important meetings determining
> this legislation will happen on Monday and continue
> the beginning of the
> week.  Small pockets of vocal opponents have raised
> their voices around the
> state having one co-sponsor drop his name from the
> bill, and causing the
> sponsor not to push for action.
> I posted the Talking Points at the bottom of the
> page.
>
> Thank you,
> LaVon Griffieon
>
> Date:      Saturday, March 9, 2002
>  Subject:  Land Management Planning Act (HF 2567,
> formerly HF 2178)
>
> Action:    CONTACT STATE REPRESENTATIVES
> IMMEDIATELY!  ASK THEM
>  TO SUPPORT HF 2567 AND REQUEST THAT IT BE BROUGHT
> UP FOR A VOTE    BY MARCH
> 14.
>
> Two weeks ago, HF 2567 passed the House Local
> Government Committee 13  7
>  on a bipartisan vote.  It was hoped that the bill
> would be brought up for
> debate by the full House this past week.  That
> hasn't happened.  For HF 2567
> to continue to remain a live round, it must be
> approved by the full House no
> later than Thursday, March 14.  We believe the votes
> are there to pass the
> bill . . .  if only we can persuade House leadership
> to bring it up for
> debate.
>
> To contact your State Representative at the State
> Capitol, call (515)
> 281-3221 or find his or her e-mail address by
> consulting the legislative web
> site at <www.legis.state.ia.us>  Every legislator
> needs to know their
> constituents believe this is an important bill.  The
> bill opponents are more
> than happy to contact them.  We need to.
>
> Please note that the bill as amended in committee is
> a compromise effort that
> addresses nearly all of the concerns raised by the
> Iowa League of Cities and
> many concerns raised by others.  The main issue for
> the League at this point
> is the question of the cost to cities of
> implementing the plans.  This
> question is under study by the Legislative Fiscal
> Bureau.  While the final
> fiscal note won't be out until Monday, the cost is
> expected to be minimal.
> Furthermore, this bill is modeled after a bill
> passed in Tennessee in 1998.
> That bill had a very minimal fiscal impact
>  on cities and counties.
>
>
> HF 2567 would go a long way toward curbing urban
> sprawl in Iowa.  Every
> county and all cities in that county put together a
> strategic development
> plan for the entire county, identifying territory
> that can accommodate growth
> for twenty years, protecting prime farmland and
> unique natural areas, and
> fully using existing urban land.
>
> Final plans are submitted to the state Land
> Management Planning Board for
>  approval.  NOTE:  LOCAL GOVERNMENTS, NOT THE STATE,
> ARE RESPONSIBLE FOR
> LOCAL PLANNING DECISIONS.  THE STATE BOARD HAS SOME
> SAY OVER THE PLAN'S
> CONTENTS ONLY IF LOCAL GOVERNMENTS ARE UNABLE TO
> COME TO AGREEMENT.
>
> Were trying to keep this e-mail short and to the
> point.  If you have further
> questions or comments, please don't hesitate to
> contact our office.  You can
> also learn more about the bill by checking 1000
> Friends of Iowa's web site at
> [log in to unmask]  If you'd like to read the full
> text of the bill on line,
> consult the legislative web site.
> <www.legis.state.ia.us>
>
> I have attached the talking points below.
> THANKS!
>
> LAND MANAGEMENT PLANNING ACT - HF 2567
>
> Talking Points
>
>
> To remain a live round, the Land Management Planning
> Act must be passed
> by the Iowa House or placed on the unfinished
> business calendar by
> Thursday, March 14.  The bill addresses coordinated,
> comprehensive
> land-use planning.
>
> Please take a minute to read over these talking
> points.  They will be
> very helpful as you discuss the bill's merits with
> your state
> legislators, local officials and others.  As always,
> please call or
> e-mail 1000 Friends of Iowa at our office
> (515-288-5364) if you have
> specific questions or need further information.
>
>
> 1.     The way communities grow and develop has
> changed radically over
> the past twenty years.  A 1998 study done by Iowa
> State Extension found
> that 88% of all new growth and development occurred
> OUTSIDE cities.
> Furthermore, the study found that 50% of all land
> INSIDE Iowa's cities is
> zoned agricultural.  To respond to these drastic
> changes, cities and
> counties need new tools to help direct growth and
> development in a
> responsible, sustainable manner, without causing an
> undue burden to
> taxpayers through excessive subsidies and
> duplication of costly
> infrastructure.
>
>
> 2.     The main thrust of the bill is to require
> cities and counties to
> plan cooperatively and assemble a county wide
> strategic development plan.
> A Local Strategic Development Committee will be
> created within each
> county, which will be made up of members from each
> city as well as
> residents of unincorporated areas within the county.
> This committee will
> create a strategic development plan for the county
> and all the cities
> within that county, which will determine how best to
> grow for the next
> twenty years and identify strategic growth and
> preservation areas. They
> will be required to hold two public hearings for
> citizen input on the
> plan. Planning is a local
> function, and this bill in no way, shape or form
> removes that right and
> responsibility from local officials.
>
>
> 3.     The bill describes general goals and
> objectives of a strategic
> development plan:
> A. Encourage compact development.
> B. Promote redevelopment in existing urban areas.
> C. Promote the economic health of all cities and the
> county.
> D. Provide for a variety of housing choices.
> E. Conserve natural resource areas and
> environmentally sensitive land.
> F. Preserve prime agricultural land.
> G. Protect private property rights.
> H. Provide municipal services concurrently with
> development.
>
>
>
> 4.     The bill creates no new government entities.
> The City Development
> Board becomes the Land Management Planning Board.
> The board reviews and
> approves not only annexations, as under current law,
> but also reviews and
> approves the strategic development plans.  The make
> up of the five-member
> Land Management Planning Board is exactly the same
> as the current City
> Development Board.  (NOTE THAT IF STRATEGIC
> DEVELOPMENT PLANS ARE
> APPROVED BY A LOCAL COMMITTEE WITHOUT CONTENTION THE
> STATE BOARD APPROVES
> THE PLAN WITHOUT REVISIONS.  ONLY IN THE CASE OF A
> CITY OR COUNTY
> REJECTING THE LOCAL PLAN IS REVIEW BY THE STATE
> BOARD BROUGHT INTO THE
> EQUATION.)
>
> 5.     This legislation is modeled after Tennessee's
> 1998 law.  In about
> 75 of Tennessee's 95 counties, the cooperative
> planning process proceeded
> without serious glitches.  The Tennessee Municipal
> League, the Tennessee
> County Services Association, and the Tennessee Farm
> Bureau all support
> the law.
>
> 6. The Land Management Planning Board actually
> provides some protection
> to a city or county that feels it has not had its
> interests represented
> in the planning process. The bill establishes a
> process for cities and
> counties to ratify or reject proposed plans, and to
> amend those plans. A
> system of dispute resolution is established if
> final, amended plans are
> not ratified by the county and all cities in the
> county. Cities, counties
> and individual citizens may seek judicial review of
> a decision by the
> Land Management Planning Board.
>
> 7. The bill will help cities revitalize by
> encouraging more responsible
> use of existing land while discouraging development
> on prime farmland.
> It is emphatically a pro-city bill, especially for
> Iowa's larger, older
> cities.
>
> 8.     It will help protect farmland by discouraging
> development on land
> with a corn suitability rating over 60, and by
> encouraging cities to
> consider land already available for development.
>
> 9.     While landowners who want to sell their land
> for development may
> find their land less valuable, many will find it
> more valuable.  Overall,
> the bill will help protect private property rights.
> (IT IS IMPORTANT TO
> NOTE THAT THE BILL HAS NO EFFECT ON WHETHER OR NOT A
> COUNTY HAS ZONING.)
> With the adoption of plans that look twenty years
> down the road, people
> who've made an investment in their property (whether
> it's agricultural,
> residential or commercial) will be sure of that
> investment's stability
> into the future.
>
> 10.    The bill does not raise taxes.
>
> 11.    The bill also attempts to expedite the
> permitting process for
> development in strategic development areas.
>
> 12.    Only 21 out of 99 counties in Iowa have no
> comprehensive plan.
> Every
> municipality in Iowa with a population of more than
> 10,000 people has a
> comprehensive plan.  Much of the work is already
> done.  It's just a
> matter of pulling it all together so every community
> has a place at the
> table, redevelopment potential is given full
> consideration, the value of
> farmland and natural areas are considered in local
> planning decisions,
> and a long-term, twenty-year outlook is established.
>
>


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