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State and local governments no longer need to rely on outdated models, written as long ago as the 1920s, for drafting new planning laws. To assist them, the American Planning Association (APA) has released the "Growing Smart Legislative Guidebook" with new model planning statutes.
The guidebook provides governors, state legislators, local officials, professional planners and citizen activists with alternative statutory approaches to modernize and streamline existing planning laws. For the first time, a comprehensive, up-to-date resource is available to guide legislative reform affecting housing affordability, traffic congestion, environmental degradation and community safety. The 381-page guidebook combines the models with supporting commentary and research notes.
"When states overhaul their planning legislation," said APA Executive Director Frank S. So, "they find it is complex, time-consuming and expensive. It is especially hard to evaluate whether what has worked in, say, Oregon or Florida, will work in one's own state. The APA models will help elected officials design a system that fits with the political traditions of their state and addresses the unique issues facing it."
Model statutes in the first volume of the guidebook address state and regional planning, tax equity issues, and the process for initiating statutory reform.
Highlights include:
Two future volumes of "Legislative Guidebook" will deal with local planning organization and plan preparation; development controls (e.g., zoning and subdivision regulations); transportation demand management; administrative and judicial review of development decisions; the relationship of state environmental policy acts to state, regional and local planning activities; and many other topics.
The "Legislative Guidebook" is available for $16 from APA's Planners Book Service, 122 S. Michigan Ave., Suite 1600, Chicago, IL, 60603; phone: 312/786-6344; fax: 312/431-9985; Web site: http://www.planning.org/books/bookstor.html.
The book appears on the World Wide Web at http://www.planning.org/plnginfo/growsmar/gsindex.html, where it may be downloaded. Also at APA's Web site are summaries of the statutes for all 50 states, two annotated bibliographies on statute reform and project newsletters.
A supporting collection of 26 essays on statutory reform - "Modernizing State Planning Statutes: The Growing SmartSM Papers, Vol. 1," Planning Advisory Service Report No. 462/463 (1996) - may be purchased from the Book Service for $24.