STOP SB 1324!!!!--Keep Zoning Local

[Bledsoe]

There has been alot of comment about HB 2559, loss of local zoning control, giving great power to Boards of Adjustments and the modification of Historic Preservation zoining.

But SB 1324 is much closer to being signed into law.  At this point there is a House-amended version that is before the Senate. If the Senate approves the version of SB 1324 with the House amendments, it goes straight to the Governor's desk.

HB 2559 has several hurdles before it can go forward. The title was struck, so it isn't in a form that can be enacted into law. In addition, the House did not accept the Senate amendment (the bit about historic preservation), so HB 2559 will go to conference committee.

It may be that the House and Senate will decide to drop HB 2559 and move ahead with SB 1324. While this would avoid the HP zoning issue, it is still problematic for local control of land-use planning, because it requires all BoA appeals to go to court, and doesn't give local governing bodies the discretion to allow some appeals to go to the City Council first.

We need both bills killed, and we need for our state legislators to get the message -- you don't mess with local control of land-use planning.

Contact members of the State Senate and House and in particular Sen Brian Crain (R-Tulsa)

http://www.oksenate.gov/Senators/contact/crain.htm

the author of SB 1324 and tell them that these bills are bad.

For text of SB 1324 as amended see:

http://webserver1.lsb.state.ok.us/2005-06bills/HB/SB1324_HASB.RTF

For more information on this issue see:  

http://www.urbantulsa.com/article.asp?id=3298

or

http://www.batesline.com/archives/002522.html