A proposed Assembly bill that would allow surrounding towns to opt out of Dane County zoning may increase costs for surrounding rural towns.
Todd Violante, Dane County Planning and Development Department director, said if towns opt out, a breakdown in coordination between unincorporated towns and increased costs for rural towns would follow. He said the current development process is streamlined and rarely fosters conflict between the county and surrounding towns.
Zoning determines what type of developments may be built in certain areas within a community.
Opting out of Dane County zoning would enable towns to more easily change zoning laws and issue permits for new developments, Violante said.
Violante said it remains unclear how many of the surrounding towns would withdraw from county zoning, but believes it will be a small proportion. He said for new proposals, the town in question, county board and executive are almost always in agreement.
The county works to coordinate development between towns and this would be lost by towns bypassing them, Violante said. Dane County Supervisor Leland Pan, District 5, said this could be especially problematic with regards to conservation efforts.
Violante said with each new zoning proposal, a considerable amount of review work and analysis accompanies it. This, combined with administrative work to ensure compliance with state and federal regulations, represents a significant cost that the county would normally shoulder.
“In my opinion, [opting out] will make the process less efficient,” Violante said.
Violante said the main grievance of the Dane County Towns Association, one of the bill’s proponents, is that even county supervisors with chiefly urban constituencies have a say on rural zoning issues. Essentially, it is an issue of local control versus land use decision making, he said.
But Pan, whose constituency is primarily urban, said he cannot remember a time when he has voted down a zoning proposal and said most of his colleagues do the same.
“I understand that I, representing campus, do not know what it’s like to live on the outskirts,” Pan said.
Proponents of the bill also claims there is little growth in rural areas because of the permit approval process, Violante said. While most growth occurs in urban areas, he said there are a significant number of new permits each year for new developments located in unincorporated areas.