Opinion ID: 848766
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: site plan authority distinct from zoning authority

Text: Determining whether the Legislature intended to exempt local school districts from township zoning affecting site plans for schools requires an examination of the relevant portion of the Revised School Code, M.C.L. § 380.1263(3), which provides: The board of a school district shall not design or build a school building to be used for instructional or noninstructional school purposes or design and implement the design for a school site unless the design or construction is in compliance with [M.C.L. §§ 388.851 to 388.855a, the construction of school buildings act]. The superintendent of public instruction has sole and exclusive jurisdiction over the review and approval of plans and specifications for the construction, reconstruction, or remodeling of school buildings used for instructional or noninstructional school purposes and of site plans for those school buildings. As the lead opinion recognizes, this provision requires local school boards to comply with the construction of school buildings act and grants the state superintendent sole and exclusive jurisdiction to review and approve plans and specifications for the construction, reconstruction, or remodeling of school buildings and site plans for those school buildings. I agree with the lead opinion that the references in M.C.L. § 380.1263(3) to both construction plans and site plans indicate that the Legislature viewed site plans as meaning something different from construction plans. Like the lead opinion, I believe that a site plan essentially comprises the plan for everything on the property. Ante at 217. As the lead opinion acknowledges, a site plan reflects what is to be undertaken on the site, ante at 217, and amounts to a proposal. This is supported by the description of site plans given in M.C.L. § 125.286e(1): As used in this section, site plan includes the documents and drawings required by the zoning ordinance to insure that a proposed land use or activity is in compliance with local ordinances and state and federal statutes. [Emphasis added. [2] ] Site plans thus can be reasonably understood as consisting of written and illustrative documents that set forth the proposed layout of a site and that are used to ensure compliance with local zoning regulations. Although I do not disagree with the lead opinion's general characterization of site plans, I disagree with its conclusion that the superintendent's authority over site plans is unaffected by any zoning or planning rules or ordinances regarding what goes on within the site itself. Ante at 218. As the lead opinion recognizes, a plan is a proposal that is tentative in nature and is not, by definition, a final decision. Ante at 217. Recognizing this meaning, it is clear, in my judgment, that the authority granted to the superintendent in M.C.L. § 380.1263(3) relates only to the approval of proposals for what might be built, or what the school district would like to have built, on the school site, and is not the equivalent of authority to undertake final zoning or land-use decisions. The lead opinion, however, construes M.C.L. § 380.1263(3), as empowering the superintendent to effect final zoning and land-use decisions regarding the placement of buildings and facilities on school sites. In contrast, I believe that the superintendent's authority extends under the statute only to the final review and approval of the proposed layoutthat is the site planfor the school building. The statute authorizes the superintendent to finally review and approve the plan for the school site. However, local authorities, consistently with M.C.L. § 125.286e(1), are authorized to utilize the site plan as a means for ensuring that the proposed land use by the superintendent complies with local zoning ordinances. [3] The superintendent's authority over site plans is not the equivalent of zoning or land-use authority, but it is an authority in support of, an authority that informs, the exercise of zoning authority by local officials. A site plan is a tool that ensures compliance with zoning; it is not merely substitute nomenclature for describing the zoning and land-use processes. [4]