HOUSE BILL 824

48th legislature - STATE OF NEW MEXICO - first session, 2007

INTRODUCED BY

W. Ken Martinez

AN ACT

RELATING TO PLANNING; REQUIRING COUNTIES AND MUNICIPALITIES TO ADOPT A DETAILED COMPREHENSIVE PLAN; REQUIRING REVIEW OF EXISTING PLANS; REQUIRING COUNTIES AND MUNICIPALITIES TO CONFORM LAND USE ORDINANCES AND REGULATIONS TO A COMPREHENSIVE PLAN; AMENDING SECTIONS OF THE NMSA 1978; ENACTING THE PLANNING CONSISTENCY ACT.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF NEW MEXICO:

     Section 1. [NEW MATERIAL] SHORT TITLE.--Sections 1 through 6 of this act may be cited as the "Planning Consistency Act".

     Section 2. [NEW MATERIAL] DEFINITIONS.--As used in the Planning Consistency Act:

          A. "comprehensive plan" means a development plan or master plan that is prepared, adopted or amended by a local government for the physical development of land and resources within its jurisdiction; and

          B. "local government" means a municipality, city, village, town or county that may adopt, prepare or amend a comprehensive plan.

     Section 3. [NEW MATERIAL] CONFORMING EXISTING MUNICIPAL OR COUNTY PLANS--UPDATING COMPREHENSIVE PLANS.--A comprehensive plan that was adopted prior to the effective date of the Planning Consistency Act shall be reviewed by the local government that adopted that plan for compliance with that act. An existing comprehensive plan that does not conform to the requirements of the Planning Consistency Act shall be amended no later than January 1, 2010 by the local government agency that adopted that plan. A comprehensive plan shall be updated no less than once every ten years.

     Section 4. [NEW MATERIAL] CONTENTS OF A COMPREHENSIVE PLAN.--A comprehensive plan shall contain:

          A. background information on the local government and a statement of the local government's overall objectives, policies, goals and programs to guide the future development and redevelopment of the local government over a twenty-year planning period. Background information shall include population, household and employment forecasts that the local government uses in developing its comprehensive plan and demographic trends, age distributions, educational levels, income levels and employment characteristics that exist within the local government;

          B. the local government's objectives, policies, goals, maps and programs to provide an adequate housing supply that meets existing and forecasted housing demand. The comprehensive plan shall:  

                (1) assess the age, structural, value and occupancy characteristics of the local government's housing stock;

                (2) identify policies and programs that promote housing development and the provision of a range of housing choices to meet the needs of persons of all income levels and age groups and of persons of with special needs;

                (3) identify policies and programs that promote the availability of land for the development or redevelopment of low-income and moderate-income housing; and

                (4) identify policies and programs to maintain or rehabilitate the local government's existing housing stock;

          C. the local government's objectives, policies, goals, maps and programs to guide future development of transportation modes, including highways, mass transit, transportation systems for persons with disabilities, bicycles, walking, railroads, air transportation, trucking and water transportation. The comprehensive plan shall:

                (1) compare the local government's objectives, policies, goals and programs to state and regional transportation plans;

                (2) identify highways within the local government by function; and

                (3) incorporate state, regional and other applicable transportation plans, including transportation corridor plans, county highway functional and jurisdictional studies, urban area and rural area transportation plans, airport master plans and rail plans that apply to the local government;

          D. the local government's objectives, policies, goals, maps and programs to guide the future development of utilities and community facilities, including sanitary sewer service, storm water management, water supply, solid waste disposal, on-site wastewater treatment technologies, recycling facilities, parks, telecommunications facilities, power-generating plants and transmission lines, cemeteries, health care facilities, child care facilities and other public facilities, such as police, fire and rescue facilities, libraries, schools and other governmental facilities. The comprehensive plan shall:

                (1) describe the location, use and capacity of existing public utilities and community facilities that serve the local government;

                (2) include an approximate timetable that forecasts the need to expand or rehabilitate existing utilities and facilities or to create new utilities and facilities; and

                 (3) assess future needs for government services in the local government that are related to such utilities and facilities;

          E. the local government's objectives, policies, goals, maps and programs for the conservation and effective management of natural resources, including ground water, forests, productive agricultural areas, environmentally sensitive areas, threatened and endangered species, stream corridors, surface water, floodplains, wetlands, wildlife habitat, metallic and nonmetallic mineral resources, parks, open spaces, historical and cultural resources, community design and recreational resources;

          F. the local government's objectives, policies, goals, maps and programs to promote the stabilization, retention or expansion of the economic base and quality employment opportunities in the local government, including an analysis of the labor force and economic base of the local government. The comprehensive plan shall:

                (1) determine categories or particular types of new businesses and industries that are desired by the local government;

                (2) assess the local government's strengths and weaknesses with respect to attracting and retaining businesses and industries;

                (3) designate an adequate number of sites for desired businesses and industries;

                (4) evaluate and promote the use of environmentally contaminated sites for commercial or industrial uses; and

                (5) identify county, regional and state economic development programs that apply to the local government;

          G. the local government's objectives, policies, goals, maps and programs for joint planning and decision-making with other jurisdictions, school districts and adjacent local governments for siting and building public facilities and sharing public services. The comprehensive plan shall:

                (1) analyze the relationship of the local government to school districts and adjacent local governmental units and to the region, the state and other governmental units; and

                (2) identify existing or potential conflicts between the local government and other governments and describe processes to resolve such conflicts;

          H. the local government's objectives, policies, goals, maps and programs to guide the future development and redevelopment of public and private property. The comprehensive plan shall:

                (1) contain a listing of the amount, type, intensity and net density of existing uses of land in the local government, including agricultural, residential, commercial, industrial and other public and private uses;

                (2) analyze trends in the supply, demand and price of land, opportunities for redevelopment and existing and potential land-use conflicts;

                (3) contain twenty-year projections, in five-year increments, of future residential, agricultural, commercial and industrial land uses, including the assumptions of net densities or other spatial assumptions upon which the projections are based; and

                (4) include maps that show current and future land uses that indicate productive agricultural soils, natural limitations for building-site development, floodplains, wetlands and other environmentally sensitive lands, the boundaries of areas to which services of public utilities and community facilities will be provided in the future and the general location of future land uses by net density or other classifications;

          I. an analysis of the risks of wildfire, floods, extreme weather conditions, accidents, terrorism and other hazards. The comprehensive plan shall include goals, objectives, policies and a plan of action for hazard mitigation;

          J. the local government's goals, objectives and policies for promoting the efficient use of water and for managing periods of drought. The comprehensive plan shall include:

                (1) a description and assessment of the sources of water supply and of the demand for water by residential, commercial, institutional, industrial and recreational sectors;

                (2) an assessment of water losses that are unaccounted for due to leaks, theft or other reasons;

                (3) an analysis of the future demand for water that will result from growth projected in the plan; and

                (4) an analysis of how future demand for water will be served; and

          K. a compilation of programs and specific actions to be completed in a stated sequence, including proposed changes to any applicable zoning ordinances, official maps or subdivision ordinances, to implement the objectives, policies, plans and programs contained in the Planning Consistency Act. The comprehensive plan shall:

                (1) describe how each element of the comprehensive plan will be integrated and made consistent with the other elements of the comprehensive plan;

                (2) include a mechanism to measure the local government's progress toward achieving all aspects of the comprehensive plan; and

                (3) include a process for updating the comprehensive plan.

     Section 5. [NEW MATERIAL] ACTIONS AND PROCEDURES THAT MUST BE CONSISTENT WITH COMPREHENSIVE PLANS.--Beginning on January 1, 2011, the following actions by a local government shall be consistent with that local government's comprehensive plan:

          A. official mapping;

          B. regulation of municipal subdivisions;

          C. regulation of county subdivisions;

          D. enacting or amending county zoning ordinances;

          E. enacting or amending municipal zoning ordinances;

          F. enacting or amending economic development ordinances;

          G. creating or amending tax increment financing districts;

          H. creating or amending public improvement districts;

          I. creating or amending business improvement districts;

          J. creating or amending metropolitan redevelopment districts;

          K. imposing or amending impact fees; and

          L. transfer of development rights programs.

     Section 6. [NEW MATERIAL] PROCEDURE FOR ADOPTING A COMPREHENSIVE PLAN.--A comprehensive plan that is recommended for adoption or amendment shall not take effect until the local government, after notice and public hearing, enacts an ordinance adopting the plan or amendment.

     Section 7. Section 3-19-9 NMSA 1978 (being Laws 1965, Chapter 300, Section 14-18-9, as amended) is amended to read:

     "3-19-9. MASTER PLAN--PURPOSES.--

          A. The planning commission shall prepare and adopt a master plan for the physical development of the municipality and the area within the planning and platting jurisdiction of the municipality which in the planning commission's judgment bears a relationship to the planning of the municipality and that is in accordance with the Planning Consistency Act. The planning commission may amend, extend or add to the plan or carry any part or subject matter into greater detail. In preparing the master plan, the planning commission shall make careful and comprehensive surveys and studies of existing conditions and probable future growth of the municipality and its environs. The plan shall be made with the general purpose of guiding and accomplishing a coordinated, adjusted and harmonious development of the municipality which will, in accordance with existing and future needs, best promote health, safety, morals, order, convenience, prosperity or the general welfare as well as efficiency and economy in the process of development.

          B. Among other things, the master plan with accompanying maps, plats and charts, descriptive and explanatory matter and recommendations of the planning commission for the physical development of the municipality and for its planning jurisdiction may include:

                (1) the general location, character and extent of streets, bridges, viaducts and parkways, parks and playgrounds, floodways, waterways and waterfront development, airports and other ways, grounds, places and spaces;

                (2) the general location of public schools, public buildings and other public property;

                (3) the general location and extent of public utilities and terminals, whether publicly or privately owned;

                (4) the general location, character, layout and extent of community centers and neighborhood units and the replanning of blighted districts and slum areas; and

                (5) the acceptance, widening, removal, extension, relocation, narrowing, vacation, abandonment or change of use of any of the foregoing public ways, grounds, places, spaces, buildings, properties, utilities or terminals.

          C. Copies of the master plan shall be available at the office of the municipal clerk and may be purchased at a reasonable price."

     Section 8. Section 3-21-5 NMSA 1978 (being Laws 1965, Chapter 300, Section 14-20-3, as amended) is amended to read:

     "3-21-5. ZONING--CONFORMANCE TO COMPREHENSIVE PLAN.--

          A. The regulations and restrictions of the county or municipal zoning authority [are to] shall be [in accordance] consistent with a comprehensive plan pursuant to the Planning Consistency Act and shall be designed to:

                (1) lessen congestion in the streets and public ways;

                (2) secure safety from fire, flood waters, panic and other dangers;

                (3) promote health and the general welfare;

                (4) provide adequate light and air;

                (5) prevent the overcrowding of land;

                (6) avoid undue concentration of population;

                (7) facilitate adequate provision for transportation, water, sewerage, schools, parks and other public requirements; and

                (8) control and abate the unsightly use of buildings or land.

          B. The zoning authority in adopting regulations and restrictions shall give reasonable consideration, among other things, to the character of the district and its peculiar suitability for particular uses and to conserving the value of buildings and land and encouraging the most appropriate use of land throughout its jurisdiction."

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