In yet another example of the backlash against heavy-handed land use planning that’s occuring nationwide, the Wisconsin legislature is considering abolishing the state’s 1999 law requiring all counties and local governments to develop ‘smart growth’ plans. According to the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel:
The [Wisconsin] Legislature’s budget committee voted Wednesday to abolish the Smart Growth program, which requires counties and local governments to adopt comprehensive long-range land use and development plans by 2010. In a decision that surprised local government and environmental leaders, the Joint Finance Committee voted 10-6 to repeal the Smart Growth requirement passed in 1999. The committee also voted to end the annual $2 million state government now gives Wisconsin’s 1,940 local governments to help them meet the 2010 deadline for county-by-county development plans. The vote added repeal of that law to the 2005-’07 state budget that the committee is building. For it to become law, the move would have to be approved by Gov. Jim Doyle and the full Legislature.
Read the whole thing.