Brief ⁽¹⁾

HB 2646 amends the law dealing with zoning amendment protest petitions to disallow signatures by owners of property who requested or who agree in writing to the rezoning.

Current law allows owners of the property to be rezoned as well as owners of property within 200 feet of the zoning change (1,000 feet if in the county) to protest the change and thus trigger a three-fourths vote by the governing body of the city or county in order to approve the zoning amendment. The law requires owners of at least 20 percent or more of the property which is within the area to be notified must protest the change.

The Senate Committee added the "in writing" requirement.

Background

The bill was supported by the House Majority Leader and the cities of Olathe and Overland Park. Proponents said that several years ago concerns arose about how to protect property owners from unwanted zoning changes initiated by a city or county. The Legislature amended the law to provide property owners of the area to be rezoned as well as property owners surrounding the area to be rezoned with notice and the right to protest the change. The change, however, inadvertently tipped the scales toward developers when in fact the developer has instituted the rezoning. The larger the area of total property to be rezoned is, the more this dilutes the ability of surrounding property owners to protest the change.

The bill has no fiscal impact on the state.

1. *Supplemental notes are prepared by the Legislative Research Department and do not express legislative intent. The supplemental note and fiscal note for this bill may be accessed on the Internet at http://www.ink.org/public/legislative/bill_search.html