Request By:
Honorable James S. Sanders
City Attorney
City of Lancaster
15 Public Square
Lancaster, Kentucky 40444
Opinion
Opinion By: Robert F. Stephens, Attorney General; By: Walter C. Herdman, Assistant Deputy Attorney General
This is in answer to your letters of September 7 and 12 concerning planning and zoning in the city of Lancaster. In your initial letter you indicate that the city of Lancaster established independent planning and zoning in 1965, which we presume, in turn, was re-established in accordance with the requirements of Ch. 100 KRS enacted in 1966 which, as you know, required the city to go through the process of interrogating other municipalities in the county and the county itself to determine whether or not they wish to join in planning and zoning. We also assume that this was done with a negative result, thereby permitting the city to establish an independent planning and zoning commission. You further relate that in 1977 the city and county agreed to form a joint planning commission, but in 1978 the county withdrew thereby abolishing planning and zoning but the city did not. Under the circumstances, you raise the following questions:
"1. Is the 1977 ordinance which adopted planning and zoning for the city and county and set up a joint commission still in effect as far as property located within the City of Lancaster?
"2. Is the planning commission still functioning as an independent planning commission for the city alone?
"3. Should the City take any affirmative steps to insure the continuation of an independent planning commission in light of KRS 100.117?
"4. If the City was exercising extraterritorial jurisdiction for subdivision and zoning regulations prior to June, 1977, does that jurisdiction revert to the City after the County withdraws from the joint commission, especially in light of the last sentence of the County's resolution abolishing zoning. "
A fifth question raised in your second letter is as follows:
". . . My question is as follows: the Kentucky Revised Statutes No. 100.133 subsection 2 allows the County Judge to appoint a member to an independent city-planning commission where the city is exercising extraterritorial jurisdiction. Does this member appointed by the County Judge act as any other member on the planning commission and vote on all matters coming before the planning commission and can this member be the chairman of an independent city-planning commission?"
In response to your questions, this office has held in a number of prior opinions that a member of a joint city-county planning unit may withdraw from the unit, however, it must satisfy any contractual or financial obligations established in connection with the joint planning. Once the city or county withdraws, it cannot plan independently unless it goes through the interrogation procedure initially provided for in establishing an independent planning unit pursuant to KRS 100.117. On the other hand, however, the planning unit that does not withdraw [in this case, the city of Lancaster] continues to have the power to plan and zone as an independent unit and this matter has been extensively discussed in a number of opinions, namely OAG's 67-321, 74-701 and 74-853-A, copies attached.
Of course, the city ordinance establishing the joint commission should be amended to eliminate the county representatives on the commission, but as indicated above, the remaining commission members representing the city, including the member appointed by the county judge pursuant to KRS 100.133(2) and under the jurisdictional conditions referred to in KRA 100.131, would constitute the city planning commission with each such member having full voting powers. The city zoning ordinance would remain in effect.
We also might add that the extraterritorial jurisdiction of the city operating as an independent unit is controlled by KRS 100.131 which gives it such jurisdiction for the purposes of subdivision regulations, and with the consent of the fiscal court, other regulations up to five (5) miles from all points of the city's boundaries but not beyond the county boundary or within the boundary of any city not participating.
We trust the above sufficiently answers your questions.