130th Ohio General Assembly
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S. B. No. 241  As Introduced
As Introduced

129th General Assembly
Regular Session
2011-2012
S. B. No. 241


Senator Coley 



A BILL
To amend sections 349.01, 349.03, 349.04, 349.06, and 349.14 of the Revised Code to make changes to the New Community Authority Law.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF OHIO:
Section 1.  That sections 349.01, 349.03, 349.04, 349.06, and 349.14 of the Revised Code be amended to read as follows:
Sec. 349.01.  As used in this chapter:
(A) "New community" means a community or an addition to an existing community planned pursuant to this chapter so that it includes facilities for the conduct of industrial, commercial, residential, cultural, educational, and recreational activities, and designed in accordance with planning concepts for the placement of utility, open space, and other supportive facilities.
In the case of a new community authority established on or after the effective date of this amendment and before January 1, 2012, "new community" may mean a community or development of property planned under this chapter in relation to an existing community so that the community includes facilities for the conduct of community activities, and is designed in accordance with planning concepts for the placement of utility, open space, and other supportive facilities for the community.
(B) "New community development program" means a program for the development of a new community characterized by well-balanced and diversified land use patterns and which includes land acquisition and land development, the acquisition, construction, operation, and maintenance of community facilities, and the provision of services authorized in this chapter.
In the case of a new community authority established on or after the effective date of this amendment and before January 1, 2012, a A new community development program may take into account any existing community in relation to which a new community is developed for purposes of being characterized by well-balanced and diversified land use patterns.
(C) "New community district" means the area of land described by the developer in the petition as set forth in division (A) of section 349.03 of the Revised Code for development as a new community and any lands added to the district by amendment of the resolution establishing the community authority.
(D) "New community authority" means a body corporate and politic in this state, established pursuant to section 349.03 of the Revised Code and governed by a board of trustees as provided in section 349.04 of the Revised Code.
(E) "Developer" means any person, organized for carrying out a new community development program who owns or controls, through leases of at least seventy-five years' duration, options, or contracts to purchase, the land within a new community district, or any municipal corporation, county, or port authority that owns the land within a new community district, or has the ability to acquire such land, either by voluntary acquisition or condemnation in order to eliminate slum, blighted, and deteriorated or deteriorating areas and to prevent the recurrence thereof. In the case of a new community authority established on or after the effective date of this amendment July 7, 2010, and before January 1, 2012, "developer" may mean a person, municipal corporation, county, or port authority that controls land within a new community district through leases of at least forty years' duration.
(F) "Organizational board of commissioners" means, if the new community district is located in only one county, the board of county commissioners of such county; if located in more than one county, a board consisting of the members of the board of county commissioners of each of the counties in which the district is located, provided that action of such board shall require a majority vote of the members of each separate board of county commissioners; or, if more than half of the new community district is located within the boundaries of the most populous municipal corporation of a county, the legislative authority of the municipal corporation.
(G) "Land acquisition" means the acquisition of real property and interests in real property as part of a new community development program.
(H) "Land development" means the process of clearing and grading land, making, installing, or constructing water distribution systems, sewers, sewage collection systems, steam, gas, and electric lines, roads, streets, curbs, gutters, sidewalks, storm drainage facilities, and other installations or work, whether within or without the new community district, and the construction of community facilities.
(I)(1) "Community facilities" means all real property, buildings, structures, or other facilities, including related fixtures, equipment, and furnishings, to be owned, operated, financed, constructed, and maintained under this chapter, including public, community, village, neighborhood, or town buildings, centers and plazas, auditoriums, day care centers, recreation halls, educational facilities, hospital facilities as defined in section 140.01 of the Revised Code, recreational facilities, natural resource facilities, including parks and other open space land, lakes and streams, cultural facilities, community streets, including off-street parking facilities, pathway and bikeway systems, pedestrian underpasses and overpasses, lighting facilities, design amenities, or other community facilities, and buildings needed in connection with water supply or sewage disposal installations or steam, gas, or electric lines or installation.
(2) In the case of a new community authority established on or after the effective date of this amendment and before January 1, 2012, "community facilities" may mean, in addition to the facilities authorized in division (I)(1) of this section, any other community facilities that are owned, operated, financed, constructed, or maintained for, relating to, or in furtherance of community activities, including, but not limited to, town buildings or other facilities, and health care facilities including, but limited to, hospital facilities, and off-street parking facilities.
(J) "Cost" as applied to a new community development program means all costs related to land acquisition and land development, the acquisition, construction, maintenance, and operation of community facilities and offices of the community authority, and of providing furnishings and equipment therefor, financing charges including interest prior to and during construction and for the duration of the new community development program, planning expenses, engineering expenses, administrative expenses including working capital, and all other expenses necessary and incident to the carrying forward of the new community development program.
(K) "Income source" means any and all sources of income to the community authority, including community development charges of which the new community authority is the beneficiary as provided in section 349.07 of the Revised Code, rentals, user fees and other charges received by the new community authority, any gift or grant received, any moneys received from any funds invested by or on behalf of the new community authority, and proceeds from the sale or lease of land and community facilities.
(L) "Community development charge" means:
(1) A dollar amount which that shall be determined on the basis of the assessed valuation of real property or interests in real property in a new community district sold, leased, or otherwise conveyed by the developer or the new community authority, the income of the residents of such property subject to such charge under section 349.07 of the Revised Code, if such property is devoted to residential uses or to the profits of any business, a uniform fee on each parcel of such real property originally sold, leased, or otherwise conveyed by the developer or new community authority, or any combination of the foregoing bases.
(2) For a new community authority that is established on or after the effective date of this amendment and before January 1, 2012, "community development charge" includes, in addition to the charges authorized in division (L)(1) of this section, a A charge determined on the basis of all or a part of the income of the residents of real property within the new community district if such property is devoted to residential uses, or all or a part of the profits, gross receipts, or other revenues of any business operating in the new community district.
(M) "Proximate city" means, as of the date of filing of the petition under section 349.03 of the Revised Code, any municipal corporation in which any portion of the proposed new community district is located, or if more than one-half of the proposed new community district is contained within a joint economic development district under sections 715.70 to 715.83 of the Revised Code, "proximate city" means the township containing the greatest portion of such district. Otherwise, "proximate city" means any city that, as of the date of filing of the petition under section 349.03 of the Revised Code, is the city with the greatest population located in the county in which the proposed new community district is located, is the city with the greatest population located in an adjoining county if any portion of such city is within five miles of any part of the boundaries of such district, or exercises extraterritorial subdivision authority under section 711.09 of the Revised Code with respect to any part of such district.
(N) "Community activities" means cultural, educational, governmental, recreational, residential, industrial, commercial, distribution and research activities, or any combination thereof that includes residential activities.
Sec. 349.03.  (A) Proceedings for the organization of a new community authority shall be initiated by a petition filed by the developer in the office of the clerk of the board of county commissioners of one of the counties in which all or part of the proposed new community district is located. Such petition shall be signed by the developer and may be signed by each proximate city. The legislative authorities of each such proximate city shall act in behalf of such city. Such petition shall contain:
(1) The name of the proposed new community authority;
(2) The address where the principal office of the authority will be located or the manner in which the location will be selected;
(3) A map and a full and accurate description of the boundaries of the new community district together with a description of the properties within such boundaries, if any, which will not be included in the new community district. Unless more than one-half of the proposed new community district is or was contained within a joint economic development district under sections 715.70 to 715.83 of the Revised Code or the district is wholly contained within municipalities, the total acreage included in such district shall not be less than one thousand acres, all of which acreage shall be owned by, or under the control through leases of at least seventy-five years' duration, options, or contracts to purchase, of the developer, if the developer is a private entity. Such acreage shall be developable as one functionally interrelated community. In the case of a new community authority established on or after the effective date of this amendment July 7, 2010, and before January 1, 2012, such leases may be of not less than forty years' duration, and the acreage may be developable so that the community is one functionally interrelated community.
(4) A statement setting forth the zoning regulations proposed for zoning the area within the boundaries of the new community district for comprehensive development as a new community, and if the area has been zoned for such development, a certified copy of the applicable zoning regulations therefor;
(5) A current plan indicating the proposed development program for the new community district, the land acquisition and land development activities, community facilities, services proposed to be undertaken by the new community authority under such program, the proposed method of financing such activities and services, including a description of the bases, timing, and manner of collecting any proposed community development charges, and the projected total residential population of, and employment within, the new community;
(6) A suggested number of members, consistent with section 349.04 of the Revised Code, for the board of trustees;
(7) A preliminary economic feasibility analysis, including the area development pattern and demand, location and proposed new community district size, present and future socio-economic conditions, public services provision, financial plan, and the developer's management capability;
(8) A statement that the development will comply with all applicable environmental laws and regulations.
Upon the filing of such petition, the organizational board of commissioners shall determine whether such petition complies with the requirements of this section as to form and substance. The board in subsequent proceedings may at any time permit the petition to be amended in form and substance to conform to the facts by correcting any errors in the description of the proposed new community district or in any other particular.
Upon the determination of the organizational board of commissioners that a sufficient petition has been filed in accordance with this section, the board shall fix the time and place of a hearing on the petition for the establishment of the proposed new community authority. Such hearing shall be held not less than ninety-five nor more than one hundred fifteen days after the petition filing date, except that if the petition has been signed by all proximate cities, such hearing shall be held not less than thirty nor more than forty-five days after the petition filing date. The clerk of the board of county commissioners with which the petition was filed shall give notice thereof by publication once each week for three consecutive weeks, or as provided in section 7.16 of the Revised Code, in a newspaper of general circulation in any county of which a portion is within the proposed new community district. Such clerk shall also give written notice of the date, time, and place of the hearing and furnish a certified copy of the petition to the clerk of the legislative authority of each proximate city which has not signed such petition. In the event that the legislative authority of a proximate city which did not sign the petition does not approve by ordinance, resolution, or motion the establishment of the proposed new community authority and does not deliver such ordinance, resolution, or motion to the clerk of the board of county commissioners with which the petition was filed within ninety days following the date of the first publication of the notice of the public hearing, the organizational board of commissioners shall cancel such public hearing and terminate the proceedings for the establishment of the new community authority.
Upon the hearing, if the organizational board of commissioners determines by resolution that the proposed new community district will be conducive to the public health, safety, convenience, and welfare, and is intended to result in the development of a new community, the board shall by its resolution, entered of record in its journal and the journal of the board of county commissioners with which the petition was filed, declare the new community authority to be organized and a body politic and corporate with the corporate name designated in the resolution, and define the boundary of the new community district. In addition, the resolution shall provide the method of selecting the board of trustees of the new community authority and fix the surety for their bonds in accordance with section 349.04 of the Revised Code.
If the organizational board of commissioners finds that the establishment of the district will not be conducive to the public health, safety, convenience, or welfare, or is not intended to result in the development of a new community, it shall reject the petition thereby terminating the proceedings for the establishment of the new community authority.
(B) At any time after the creation of a new community authority, the developer may file an application with the clerk of the board of county commissioners of the county in which the original petition was filed, setting forth a general description of territory it desires to add or to delete from such district, that such change will be conducive to the public health, safety, convenience, and welfare, and will be consistent with the development of a new community and will not jeopardize the plan of the new community. If the developer is not a municipal corporation, port authority, or county, all of such an addition to such a district shall be owned by, or under the control through leases of at least seventy-five years' duration, options, or contracts to purchase, of the developer. In the case of a new community authority established on or after the effective date of this amendment July 7, 2010, and before January 1, 2012, such leases may be of not less than forty years' duration. Upon the filing of the application, the organizational board of commissioners shall follow the same procedure as required by this section in relation to the petition for the establishment of the proposed new community.
(C) If all or any part of the new community district is annexed to one or more existing municipal corporations, their legislative authorities may appoint persons to replace any appointed citizen member of the board of trustees. The number of such trustees to be replaced by the municipal corporation shall be the number, rounded to the lowest integer, bearing the proportionate relationship to the number of existing appointed citizen members as the acreage of the new community district within such municipal corporation bears to the total acreage of the new community district. If any such municipal corporation chooses to replace an appointed citizen member, it shall do so by ordinance, the term of the trustee being replaced shall terminate thirty days from the date of passage of such ordinance, and the trustee to be replaced shall be determined by lot. Each newly appointed member shall assume the term of the member's predecessor.
Sec. 349.04.  The following method of selecting a board of trustees is deemed to be a compelling state interest. Within ten days after the new community authority has been established, as provided in section 349.03 of the Revised Code, an initial board of trustees shall be appointed as follows;: the organizational board of commissioners shall appoint by resolution at least three, but not more than six, citizen members of the board of trustees to represent the interests of present and future residents and employers of the new community district and one member to serve as a representative of local government, and the developer shall appoint a number of members equal to the number of citizen members to serve as representatives of the developer. In the case of a new community authority established on or after the effective date of this amendment and before January 1, 2012, the citizen members may represent present and future employers within the new community district and any present or future residents of the district.
Members shall serve two-year overlapping terms, with two of each of the initial citizen and developer members appointed to serve initial one year terms. The organizational board of commissioners shall adopt, by further resolution adopted within one year of such resolution establishing such initial board of trustees adopt, a method for selection of successor members thereof which determines the projected total population of the projected new community and meets the following criteria:
(A) The appointed citizen members shall be replaced by elected citizen members according to a schedule established by the organizational board of commissioners calculated to achieve one such replacement each time the new community district gains a proportion, having a numerator of one and a denominator of twice the number of citizen members, of its projected total population until such time as all of the appointed citizen members are replaced.
(B) Representatives of the developer shall be replaced by elected citizen members according to a schedule established by the organizational board of commissioners calculated to achieve one such replacement each time the new community district gains a proportion, having a numerator of one and a denominator equal to the number of developer members, of its projected total population until such time as all of the developer's representatives are replaced.
(C) The representative of local government shall be replaced by an elected citizen member at the time the new community district gains three-quarters of its projected total population.
Elected citizen members of the board of trustees shall be elected by a majority of the residents of the new community district voting at elections held on the first Tuesday after the first Monday in December of each year. Each citizen member except an appointed citizen member shall be a qualified elector who resides within the new community district. In the case of a new community authority established on or after the effective date of this amendment and before January 1, 2012, The petition or the organizational board of directors commissioners, by resolution, may adopt an alternative method of selection or election of successor members of the board of trustees. If the alternative method provides for the election of citizen members, the elections may be held at the times and in the manner provided in a the petition or resolution of the organizational board of commissioners, and the any elected citizen members shall be qualified electors who resides reside in the new community district.
Citizen members shall not be employees of or have financial interest in the developer. If a vacancy occurs in the office of a member other than a member appointed by the developer, the organizational board of commissioners may appoint a successor member for the remainder of the unexpired term. Any appointed member of the board of trustees may at any time be removed by the organizational board of commissioners for misfeasance, nonfeasance, or malfeasance in office. Members appointed by the developer may also at any time be removed by the developer without a showing of cause.
Each member of the board of trustees, before entering upon official duties, shall take and subscribe to an oath before an officer authorized to administer oaths in Ohio that the member will honestly and faithfully perform the duties of the member's office. Such oath shall be filed in the office of the clerk of the board of county commissioners in which the petition was filed. Upon taking the oath, the board of trustees shall elect one of its number as chairperson and another as vice-chairperson, and shall appoint suitable persons as secretary and treasurer who need not be members of the board. The treasurer shall be the fiscal officer of the authority. The board shall adopt by-laws governing the administration of the affairs of the new community authority. Each member of the board shall post a bond for the faithful performance of official duties and give surety therefor in such amount, but not less than ten thousand dollars, as the resolution creating such board shall prescribe.
All of the powers of the new community authority shall be exercised by its board of trustees, but without relief of such responsibility, such powers may be delegated to committees of the board or its officers and employees in accordance with its by-laws. A majority of the board shall constitute a quorum, and a concurrence of a majority of a quorum in any matter within the board's duties is sufficient for its determination, provided a quorum is present when such concurrence is had and a majority of those members constituting such quorum are trustees not appointed by the developer. All trustees shall be empowered to vote on all matters within the authority of the board of trustees, and no vote by a member appointed by the developer shall be construed to give rise to civil or criminal liability for conflict of interest on the part of public officials.
Sec. 349.06.  In furtherance of the purposes of this chapter, a new community authority may:
(A) Acquire by purchase, lease, gift, or otherwise, on such terms and in such manner as it considers proper, real and personal property or any estate, interest, or right therein, within or without the new community district;
(B) Improve, maintain, sell, lease or otherwise dispose of real and personal property and community facilities, on such terms and in such manner as it considers proper;
(C) Landscape and otherwise aesthetically improve areas within the new community district, including but not limited to maintenance, landscaping and other community improvement services;
(D) Provide, engage in, or otherwise sponsor recreational, educational, health, social, vocational, cultural, beautification, and amusement activities and related services primarily for residents of the district. In the case of a new community authority established on or after the effective date of this amendment and before January 1, 2012, such activities and services may be for residents of, visitors to, employees working within, or employers operating businesses in the district, or any combination thereof.
(E) Fix, alter, impose, collect and receive service and user fees, rentals, and other charges to cover all costs in carrying out the new community development program;
(F) Adopt, modify, and enforce reasonable rules and regulations governing the use of community facilities;
(G) Employ such managers, administrative officers, agents, engineers, architects, attorneys, contractors, sub-contractors, and employees as may be appropriate in the exercise of the rights, powers and duties conferred upon it, prescribe the duties and compensation for such persons, require bonds to be given by any such persons and by officers of the authority for the faithful performance of their duties, and fix the amount and surety therefor; and pay the same;
(H) Sue and be sued in its corporate name;
(I) Make and enter into all contracts and agreements and execute all instruments relating to a new community development program, including contracts with the developer and other persons or entities related thereto for land acquisition and land development; acquisition, construction, and maintenance of community facilities; the provision of community services and management and coordinating services; with federal, state, interstate, regional, and local agencies and political subdivisions or combinations thereof in connection with the financing of such program, and with any municipal corporation or other public body, or combination thereof, providing for the acquisition, construction, improvement, extension, maintenance or operation of joint lands or facilities or for the provision of any services or activities relating to and in furtherance of a new community development program, including the creation of or participation in a regional transit authority created pursuant to the Revised Code;
(J) Apply for and accept grants, loans or commitments of guarantee or insurance including any guarantees of community authority bonds and notes, from the United States, the state, or other public body or other sources, and provide any consideration which may be required in order to obtain such grants, loans or contracts of guarantee or insurance. Such loans or contracts of guarantee or insurance may be evidenced by the issuance of bonds as provided in section 349.08 of the Revised Code;
(K) Procure insurance against loss to it by reason of damage to its properties resulting from fire, theft, accident, or other casualties, or by reason of its liability for any damages to persons or property occurring in the construction or operation of facilities or areas under its jurisdiction or the conduct of its activities;
(L) Maintain such funds or reserves as it considers necessary for the efficient performance of its duties;
(M) Enter agreements with the boards of education of any school districts in which all or part of the new community district lies, whereby the community authority may acquire property for, may construct and equip, and may sell, lease, dedicate, with or without consideration, or otherwise transfer lands, schools, classrooms, or other facilities, whether or not within the new community district, from the authority to the school district for school and related purposes;
(N) Prepare plans for acquisition and development of lands and facilities, and enter into agreements with city, county, or regional planning commissions to perform or obtain all or any part of planning services for the new community district;
(O) Engage in planning for the new community district, which may be predominantly residential and open space, and prepare or approve a development plan or plans therefor, and engage in land acquisitions and land development in accordance with such plan or plans;
(P) Issue new community authority bonds and notes and community authority refunding bonds, payable solely from the income source provided in section 349.08 of the Revised Code, unless the bonds are refunded by refunding bonds, for the purpose of paying any part of the cost as applied to the new community development program or parts thereof;
(Q) Enforce any covenants running with the land of which the new community authority is the beneficiary, including but not limited to the collection by any and all appropriate means of any community development charge deemed to be a covenant running with the land and enforceable by the new community authority pursuant to section 349.07 of the Revised Code; and to waive, reduce, or terminate any community development charge of which it is the beneficiary to the extent not needed for any of the purposes provided in section 349.07 of the Revised Code, the procedure for which shall be provided in such covenants, and if new community authority bonds have been issued pledging any such community development charge, to the extent not prohibited in the resolution authorizing the issuance of such new community authority bonds or the trust agreement or indenture of mortgage securing the bonds;
(R) Appropriate for its use, under sections 163.01 to 163.22 of the Revised Code, any land, easement, rights, rights-of-way, franchises, or other property in the new community district required by the authority for community facilities. The authority may not so appropriate any land, easement, rights, rights-of-way, franchises, or other property that is not included in the new community district.
(S) In the case of a new community authority established on or after the effective date of this amendment and before January 1, 2012, enter Enter into any agreements as may be necessary, appropriate, or useful to support a new community development program, including, but not limited to, cooperative agreements or other agreements with political subdivisions for services, materials, or products; for the administration, calculation, or collection of community development charges; or for sharing of revenue derived from community development charges, community facilities, or other sources. The agreements may be made with or without consideration as the parties determine.
Sec. 349.14.  Except as provided in section 349.03 of the Revised Code, or as otherwise provided in a resolution adopted by the organizational board of commissioners, of a new community authority established on or after the effective date of this amendment and before January 1, 2012, a new community authority organized under this chapter may be dissolved only on the vote of a majority of the voters of the new community district at a special election called by the board of trustees on the question of dissolution. Such an election may be called only after the board has determined that the new community development program has been completed, when no community authority bonds or notes are outstanding, and other legal indebtedness of the authority has been discharged or provided for, and only after there has been filed with the board of trustees a petition requesting such election, signed by a number of qualified electors residing in the new community district equal to not less than eight per cent of the total vote cast for all candidates for governor in the new community district at the most recent general election at which a governor was elected. If a majority of the votes cast favor dissolution, the board of trustees shall, by resolution, declare the authority dissolved and thereupon the community authority shall be dissolved. A certified copy of the resolution shall, within fifteen days after its adoption, be filed with the clerk of the board of county commissioners of the county in which the petition for the organization of the new community authority was filed.
Upon dissolution of a new community authority, the powers thereof shall cease to exist. Any property of the new community authority which that is located within the corporate limits of a municipality shall vest in that municipal corporation and all other property of the community authority shall vest in the county or township in which said property is located, as provided in the resolution or petition providing for dissolution. Any vesting of property in a township shall be subject to acceptance of the property by resolution of the board of township trustees. Any funds of the community authority at the time of dissolution shall be transferred to the municipal corporation and county or township, as provided in the resolution or petition providing for dissolution, in which the new community district is located in the proportion to the assessed valuation of taxable real property of the new community authority within such municipal corporation and county or township as said valuation appears on the current assessment rolls.
Section 2.  That existing sections 349.01, 349.03, 349.04, 349.06, and 349.14 of the Revised Code are hereby repealed.
Section 3.  The amendments to Chapter 349. of the Revised Code enacted by this act apply to any proceedings commenced after the amendments' effective date, and, so far as their provisions support the actions taken, also apply to proceedings that on their effective date are pending, in progress, or completed, notwithstanding the applicable law previously in effect or any provision to the contrary in a prior resolution, ordinance, order, advertisement, notice, or other proceeding. Any proceedings pending or in progress on the effective date of those amendments shall be deemed to have been taken in conformity with the amendment.
The authority provided in the amendments to Chapter 349. of the Revised Code of this act provide additional and supplemental provisions for the subject matter that may also be the subject of other laws, and is supplemental to and not in derogation of any similar authority provided by, derived from, or implied by, the Ohio Constitution, or any other law, including laws amended by this act, or any charter, order, resolution, or ordinance, and no inference shall be drawn to negate the authority thereunder by reason of express provisions contained in the amendments to Chapter 349. of the Revised Code enacted by this act.
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