• The House has until March 14, 2008 to report out any substantive House Bills; and until April 18, 2008 for the Third Reading and Passage of any such substantive House Bills (and get them into the Senate).
• The Senate has until March 13, 2008 to report out any substantive Senate Bills; and until April 17, 2008 for the Third Reading and Passage of any such substantive Senate Bills (and get them into the House).

There are a number of issues relevant to planning being considered. Here’s a synopsis, including the good, the bad (or, really the not-so-good) and the ugly:

The Good…

• HB 5698 Special Service Areas: This Bill allows municipalities to establish Special Service Areas (SSA) in a built environment, to control detention and/or retention facilities, on private property. It removes the objection limitation (currently if 51% of the property owners object, an SSA cannot be established), but does not remove the public hearing requirements. APA-IL strongly supports this Bill.
• HB 5658 Open Meetings Act: Authorizes a public body to hold a closed meeting with a professional facilitator or planner to consider the subject of self-evaluation, practices and procedures, or professional ethics. APA-IL supports this Bill.
• SB 2014 Special Use: Provides that any decision by the corporate authorities of any municipality regarding any petition or application for a special use, variance, rezoning, or other amendment to a zoning ordinance (instead of any special use, variance, rezoning, or other amendment to a zoning ordinance adopted by the corporate authorities of the municipality) is subject to de novo judicial review. APA-IL supports this Bill.
• SB 2409 Downtown Revitalization: Creates the Illinois Main Street Program within the Office of the Lieutenant Governor to provide assistance to entities attempting to revitalize downtown and neighborhood commercial districts. It would provide specific criteria; create the Illinois Main Street Advisory Council; and, amend the State Finance Act to create the Illinois Main Street Fund as a special fund.

The Bad…

• HB 4757 Safe School Routes Program: This Bill creates the Transportation Enhancements and Safe Routes to School Transparency Act. This follows the enactment of, and federal funding for, the Safe Routes to School Act passed in 2005 (PA 94-0493). This Bill establishes a Grants Review Committee, appointed by the Secretary of Transportation, to evaluate, score, and rank all applications for funding under the federal Transportation Enhancements Program and the Safe Routes to School Program. Sets forth the grants review process, providing application evaluation, scoring, and ranking decisions. On its surface, this doesn’t seem all that bad, and would allow the implementation of the recently enacted Law. However, it puts an awful lot of authority in the hands of the Grants Review Committee whose members are appointed by the Secretary of Transportation. It requires the Department to accept, completely, their recommendations, evaluations and ranking decisions. Moreover, a House Amendment removes the Governor from any rulemaking authority under the proposed Act, which may put this Bill in jeopardy of being a political football, rather than a means to implement traffic calming and pedestrian and bicycle facilities to promote safer school routes.

The Ugly…

• HB 4164 Special Uses: Provides that a special use permit may not be granted for a term of more than 5 years. Special use permits granted before the effective date of the amendatory Act expire 5 years after that effective date. Moreover, this would deny home rule powers. APA-IL strongly opposes this Bill.

Keep abreast of planning legislation! Visit APA’s site at www.planning.org for a comprehensive round-up of federal activities. We encourage all of our members to contact their legislators. Let them know how you feel about these and other planning issues.