Land Use Regulations in Districts Law

[Marc Cribb]

The SC Soil and Water Conservation Districts Law contains Article 13 entitled “Land-Use Regulations”.

Does your districts law contain this article or a similar section, and if so, are any of your districts administering the land use regulations?

[Adrian Baber]

Arkansas Law does give the authority to conservation districts to impose land use regulations. As far as I know none have exercised this authority.

[Laurie Zeller]

Montana conservation district law has the land use regulations in it. Three CDs currently have ordinances. One CD has a sod busting ordinance, another has a bison grazing ordinance (three more are considering it), and one CD has a coalbed methane development ordinance. Three other CDs are in the process of considering an oil and gas development ordinance.

One other CD had a soil erosion and sedimentation ordinance, but repealed it because it overlapped too much with new water quality requlations imposed by the state.

Let me know if you would like more information.

[Louise Lawrence]

Maryland law allows SCDs to adopt land use regulations. None have used this authority to date

[Mel Davis]

Texas has that authority in our district law but it requires a 90% approval vote from eligible voters. I doubt that will ever happen.

[Brent Dykes]

We have the language in our statute, but no GA Districts are using it to my knowledge

[Steve Woods]

Minnesota has an oblique reference in MS103C.331 subd. 11: A district may develop and revise a comprehensive plan, specifying practices to implement the state (soil & water) policy including:
(6) changes in use of land;
(8) other land use, soil erosion reduction, and agricultural practices;

Most of us see this as planning for how to deal with changes in land use rather than controlling the land use.

The bulk of MN law clearly intends cities and counties to have that land use zoning authority. Our special districts can dance around the edges with requirements for water storage, routing, and erosion control, but not zoning outright. Not surprisingly, no SWCDs have gone farther than sponsoring the adoption of nuisance erosion ordinances BY a handful of counties.

[Author]

Posts