Opinion ID: 2590389
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 14

Heading: The Commercial Development Petition intrudes into areas of government requiring specialized training and expertise. Under the third guideline, this petition is administrative in character.

Text: Appellants argue specialized training and expertise is not required to identify a policy restricting commercial development in residential and historic areas. The City argues the ability to properly rezone or condemn property requires specialized training and experience in municipal government operations, as well as knowledge about the City's fiscal affairs, its comprehensive plan, capital improvement plan, and annual budget. As discussed above, the Commercial Development Petition places a permanent restriction on the City's ability to rezone property in historic or residential areas for commercial development. This comprises more than 90 percent of the City's geographic area. It also restricts the City's ability to acquire private property through eminent domain in those areas. The practical effect of this would be to permanently lock the City into its current zoning plan throughout nearly the entire City. The relative merits of imposing such a sweeping restriction onto the City requires special knowledge and training to fully comprehend its impact. The Commercial Development Petition should be considered administrative under this guideline.