Constitutionality of proposed committee amendment to LD 1481

MAINE STATE LEGISLATURE The following document is provided by the LAW AND LEGISLATIVE DIGITAL LIBRARY at the Maine State Law and Legislative Reference Library http://legislature.maine.gov/lawlib Reproduced from scanned originals with text recognition applied (searchable text may contain some errors and/or omissions) G.Sti.:.V.t-NRuwE ,,1TTQRNEY GENERAL TEL: (2' J7) 626-8800 TTY: 1 888-577-6690 STATE OF MAINE OFFICE OF THE ATTORNEY GENERAL . 6 STATE HOUSE STATION AUGUSTA, MAINE 04333-0006 January 17, 2006 Senator Elizabeth Schneider, Senate Chair Representative Christopher Barstow, House Chair Joint Standing Committee on State and Local Government 100 State House Station Augusta, ME 04333-0003 Re: Proposed Committee Amendment to LD 1481 Dear Senator Schneider and Representative Barstow: 06-1 REGIONAL OFFICES: · 84 HARLOW ST., 2ND FLOOR BANGOR, MAINE 04401 TEL: (207) 941-3070 FAX.: (207) 941-3075 44 OAK STREET, 4TH FLOOR PORTLAND, JVWNE 04101,3014 TEL: (207) 822-0260 FAX: (207) 822,0259 ToD: (877) 428-8800 128 SWEDEN ST., STE. 2 CARIBOU, MAINE 04736 TEL: (207) 496-3792 FA.'<: (207) 496,3291 During the work session.on LD 1481 held on January 11, 2006, you asked for an opinion concerning a proposed Committee Amendment to the hill, a copy of which is attached. Specifically, you have asked whether the constitutional issue identified in our June 10; 2005 opinion has been resolved by the language of the Committee Amendment. LD 1481 contains provisions that would have prohibited a municipal initiative or referendum from having any retroactive effect on existing land use permits or approvals without imposing such a restriction directly upon municipalities. By doing so, as we stated in our opinion of June 10, 2005, the bill would have limited the subject matter of municipal ordinances that are subject to the municipal initiative and people's veto process in conflict with the requirements of Art. IV, Pt. 3, § 21 of the Maine Constitution. The proposed Committee Amendment removes all the provisions of the bill that would have limited the scope of ordinances enacted by municipal initiative and referendum as distinct from other ordinances. Instead, the amendment imposes the retroactivity limitation directly upon municipalities, which we believe to be within the Legislature's authority. In doing so, the amendment eliminates the constitutional issue we identified in our opinion. As always, the determination of the policy issues posed by this amendment are for the Legislature to determine, and in providing this information we do not express an opinion on matters of policy. GSR/elf Sincerely, q A () ~~4)'Z~&~ G. STEVEN ROWE Attorney General cc: Anna Broome, Legislative Analyst, OPLA PRINTED ON RECYCLED PAPER Committee: SLG LA:ATB File Name: G:\COMMITTEES\SLG\AMENDMTS\122nd2nd\198103.doc(l/12/2006 4: 19:00 PM) LR (item)#: 198103 New Title?: No Add Emergency?: No Date: January 10, 2006 Committee Amendment " " to LD 1481, An Act To Amend the Laws Governing the Enactment Procedures for Ordinances Amend the bill by striking out everything after the enacting clause and before the summary and inserting in its place the following: 'Sec. 1. 30-A MRSA §3007, sub-§6 is enacted to read: §3007, sub-§6 Restriction on nullification of final permit A municipalitv mav not nullifv or amend a municinal land u~e pennit hv a subsequent enactment, amendment or repeal of a local ordinance after the permit has received its lawful final approval and a period of 30 days has passed. For the purposes of this section, a municipal land use permit includes municipal building permits, zoning permits, subdivision approvals, and site plan approvals. SUMMARY This amendment replaces the original bill. It limits the municipalities from nullifying or amending permits by a subsequent enactment, amendment or repeal of a local ordinance. Office of Policy and Legal Analysis Draft ............... Page 1