Also in this issue: US Supreme Court Finds Minnesota County’s Failure to Return Excess Equity to Landowner Unconstitutional — What Does it Mean for Wisconsin? | Law Enforcement and Fire/EMS Maintenance of Effort Requirements for Shared Revenue Funding | Trustee’s Vote to Rezone Family Member’s Property not a Violation of Due Process
Legislature Preempts Local Passage Requirements for Zoning Amendments
Jared Walker Smith | 08.15.23
Prior to April 5, 2018, protest petitions were a statutory mechanism for certain property owners impacted by a proposed zoning amendment to require that the zoning amendment only become effective by the favorable vote of three-fourths of the members of the governing body voting on the proposed change.
When the protest petition statute was repealed by 2017 Wisconsin Act 243, municipalities retained the option to create by ordinance a protest petition process similar to the former statute. That option will soon be ending.
On June 23 of this year Governor Evers signed 2023 Wisconsin Act 16 which principally provides a new procedure for certiorari review of local land use decisions regarding residential development. However, the Act also creates Wis. Stat. § 66.10015(3)(a), which states that except for changes to an airport affected area, “the enactment of a zoning amendment shall be approved by a simple majority of a quorum of the members-elect.”
The creation of section 66.10015(3) (a) has a delayed effective date of January 1, 2025, so municipalities have time to review their ordinances and prepare their governing bodies for the new approval requirement.
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