On April 13, 2004, Governor Jim Doyle made several important changes to the State�s Comprehensive Planning Law (1999 WI Act 9) by signing Assembly Bill 608 into law. The amendment seeks to clarify several controversial matters contained within the previous legislation, including actions that must be consistent with a comprehensive plan and the advisory role of plans produced by regional planning commissions.

Most significantly, the amendment simplifies the actions that must be consistent with a comprehensive plan. The original language required that: �[b]eginning on January 1, 2010, any program or action of a local governmental unit that affects land use shall be consistent with that local governmental unit�s comprehensive plan�� The law contained a list of specific programs and actions that needed to be consistent with the plan, as well as a catch-all phrase that stated: �[a]ny other ordinance, plan or regulation of a local governmental unit that relates to land use�. The new language eliminates this phrase and reduces the list of requirements to include official mapping, local subdivision regulations, county, city, village and town zoning ordinances, and state-mandated shoreland-wetland zoning.

Furthermore, the amendment clarifies that plans produced by regional planning commissions are advisory only in relationship to county, city, village and town comprehensive plans. This amendment addresses concerns raised that regional planning commissions could impose their plans on local units of government.

Narrowing the number of actions that must be consistent with a comprehensive plan reduces the number of local governments that are required by law to prepare a comprehensive plan prior to the 2010 deadline. There are several hundred towns throughout the State, as well as a few villages, that are not regulated by either local or county zoning and would therefore not be required to plan under the revised law. (To see if your community is zoned, visit the Wisconsin Department of Administration website www.doa.state.wi.us and type in keyword �zoning unincorporated�). The revised law can still be interpreted to mean that towns that exercise their veto power of county zoning are required to do so consistent with an adopted comprehensive plan¹.

In light of the relaxed consistency requirement, many communities, especially towns, will be faced with the choice to plan or not to plan. It is increasingly important for local leaders and community members to weigh the costs and benefits associated with planning in order to make an informed decision. Those communities still required to plan under the law should be encouraged to implement other programs beyond those required by law such as housing, economic development and transportation programs, consistent with their comprehensive plan.

On May 7, 2004, Wisconsin Act 307 took effect, further amending the Comprehensive Planning Law. The amendment attempts to integrate provisions of the State's nonmetallic mining reclamation law by requiring communities to consider non-metallic mineral resources within the natural resources element of their comprehensive plan �consistent with zoning limitations under s. 295.20(2)�. The amendment also requires communities to include provisions within their public participation plan to �distribute proposed, alternative or amended elements of a comprehensive plan� to non-metallic mining interests, and to provide written notification to those interests at least 30 days prior to the community�s hearing to adopt the comprehensive plan.