1.1                          A bill for an act
  1.2             relating to land use planning; requesting the St. 
  1.3             Cloud area planning organization to assess and report 
  1.4             on the land use planning and coordinating issues of 
  1.5             the region. 
  1.6   BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MINNESOTA: 
  1.7      Section 1.  [ST. CLOUD AREA PLANNING.] 
  1.8      Subdivision 1.  [PROPOSAL AND REPORT REQUIRED.] The St. 
  1.9   Cloud area planning organization, a joint powers organization 
  1.10  established under Minnesota Statutes, section 471.59, is 
  1.11  requested to develop a detailed assessment of the regional land 
  1.12  use, planning, and coordination issues of the St. Cloud region, 
  1.13  as provided in this section.  The area planning organization is 
  1.14  requested to submit a report on its assessment of needs and 
  1.15  proposed actions to the state representatives and senators 
  1.16  representing the affected legislative districts, by November 15, 
  1.17  1996. 
  1.18     Subd. 2.  [ISSUES TO BE ADDRESSED.] The area planning 
  1.19  organization may address the following issues in its report and 
  1.20  proposed legislation: 
  1.21     (1) what should be the geographic area of the region; 
  1.22     (2) what legislation is needed to ensure comprehensive and 
  1.23  effective regional land use planning and coordination; 
  1.24     (3) what other issues should be addressed at the regional 
  1.25  level, including, but not limited to, whether housing, transit 
  2.1   and transportation, water and sewers, and other services and 
  2.2   infrastructure should be addressed at the regional level; 
  2.3      (4) the need for consolidation of jurisdictions, including 
  2.4   whether county boundaries should be altered to create a new 
  2.5   county with the city of St. Cloud at the center; 
  2.6      (5) the appropriate governance structure to address the 
  2.7   regional issues and needs identified; 
  2.8      (6) the appropriate funding sources for a regional 
  2.9   government; 
  2.10     (7) the feasibility of implementing a tax-base sharing 
  2.11  program in the region; and 
  2.12     (8) other issues identified by the area planning 
  2.13  organization. 
  2.14     Subd. 3.  [VOTE.] The report to the state representative 
  2.15  and senator representing the affected legislative districts 
  2.16  requested under this section must be supported by a majority 
  2.17  vote of the area planning organization's local governmental unit 
  2.18  members.  The votes of each member city and town shall be 
  2.19  weighted to ensure proportional representation based on the 
  2.20  population of each member city and town in relation to the total 
  2.21  population within the area planning organization's jurisdiction. 
  2.22     Sec. 2.  [APPLICATION.] 
  2.23     Section 1 applies in the counties of Benton, Sherburne, and 
  2.24  Stearns.