HB 1439 – AS INTRODUCED
2006 SESSION
06/01
HOUSE BILL 1439
AN ACT relative to petitioned zoning ordinance amendments.
SPONSORS: Rep. D. Campbell, Hills 24
COMMITTEE: Municipal and County Government
This bill establishes a procedure for review of petitioned zoning ordinances by the governing body of the town.
Under this bill, petitioned ordinances that are not approved by the governing body shall not be included on the ballot.
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Explanation: Matter added to current law appears in bold italics.
Matter removed from current law appears [in brackets and struckthrough.]
Matter which is either (a) all new or (b) repealed and reenacted appears in regular type.
06-2940
06/01
STATE OF NEW HAMPSHIRE
In the Year of Our Lord Two Thousand Six
AN ACT relative to petitioned zoning ordinance amendments.
Be it Enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Court convened:
1 Method of Enactment by Petition; Approval of Governing Body Added. Amend RSA 675:4, II-V to read as follows:
II. The planning board at its first regular meeting following the petition period shall set the date of the public hearing for each petitioned amendment which is received and shall hold a public hearing on each petitioned amendment. Notice for the time and place of the public hearing shall be the same as that provided in RSA 675:7. After the public hearing the planning board shall send each petitioned amendment to the governing body of the town.
III. Each petitioned amendment approved by the governing body under paragraph VI shall be placed on a ballot which may be separate from the ballot used to elect town or village district officers. A notation on the ballot stating the planning board’s approval or disapproval shall immediately follow the question’s description. Any petitioned question receiving an affirmative vote of a majority of the legal voters present and voting shall be adopted, except as provided in RSA 675:5. The planning board shall forward to the town or village district clerk all proposed amendments to a zoning ordinance, historic district ordinance, or building code under this section not later than the fifth Tuesday prior to the date for electing town or village district officers.
IV. The town or village district clerk shall include each question approved by the governing body under paragraph VI on a petitioned amendment on the appropriate official or special ballot, or separate official ballot, in the same manner as provided in paragraph III and in RSA 675:3, VII.
V. The method for amending a zoning ordinance, historic district ordinance or building code, as set forth in this section, may also be utilized to repeal such ordinance or code. The ballot question shall use the word “repeal” in place of the word “amendment.”
VI. Upon receiving each petitioned zoning amendment from the planning board with its recommendation, the governing body shall consider the petition against the following criteria and if it finds that the petition meets any of the criteria it shall not refer the amendment to the town or village district clerk for inclusion on the appropriate ballot.
(a) The proposed amendment is clearly unconstitutional.
(b) The proposed amendment is frivolous.
(c) The proposed amendment could not become law if passed.
2 Effective Date. This act shall take effect January 1, 2007.