Currently, they need only reflect the same kinds of groups that served on the planning committees. These may include tenants, landlords, and merchants. The bill defines the process for amending strategic plans, changes the process for seeking code waivers, and eliminates local legislative bodies' power to specify the committees' powers, which the statutes delineate. The bill requires the NRZ committee to follow the same procedure for amending a plan that it follows when approving one. The committee must do this for any amendment that involves a concept or proposal not reflected in the adopted plan.
Current law makes no provision for amending plans.
The bill specifies that a town can establish the process for requesting code waivers after it adopts the resolution establishing the zone. The law allows the town to request waivers from local and state environmental, health, and safety codes and regulations. The bill specifies that the request must identify the code or regulation for which the waiver is sought and recommend substitute requirements, not alternate measures as required under current law. By law, an NRZ committee must submit the request to the town's CEO, who then must send it to the appropriate local official and OPM, which sends it to the appropriate state official if the request pertains to a state code or regulation. The bill extends the time the code official has to hold a public hearing on the request, from within 10 days of receiving it to within 30 days.