Sec. 1263.

(1) The board of a school district shall not build a school upon a site without having prior title in fee to the site, a lease for not less than 99 years, or a lease for not less than 50 years from the United States government, or this state, or a political subdivision of this state.

(2) The board of a school district shall not build a frame school on a site for which it does not have a title in fee or a lease for 50 years without securing the privilege of removing the school.

(3) The governing board of a public school shall not design or build a school building to be used for instructional or noninstructional school purposes or design and implement the design for a school site unless the design or construction is in compliance with 1937 PA 306, MCL 388.851 to 388.855a. The superintendent of public instruction has sole and exclusive jurisdiction over the review and approval of plans and specifications for the construction, reconstruction, or remodeling of school buildings used for instructional or noninstructional school purposes and, subject to subsection (4), of site plans for those school buildings.

(4) Unless the site is located within a city or village, the governing board of a public school shall not build or expand a high school building on a site without first submitting the site plan to the local zoning authority for administrative review as provided under this subsection. Not later than 60 days after receiving the site plan, the local zoning authority shall respond to the governing board with either a written notice that the local zoning authority concurs with the site plan or with written suggested changes to the site plan. If the local zoning authority does not respond to the governing board with either of these options, the governing board shall be considered to have received a written notice of concurrence from the local zoning authority. If there are written suggested changes, then not later than 45 days after receiving the written suggested changes, the governing board shall respond to the local zoning authority with a revised site plan that incorporates the changes or with an explanation of why the changes are not being made. This subsection applies to expansion of a high school building only if the expansion will result in the square footage of the high school building being increased by at least 20%. This subsection does not apply to temporary structures or facilities that are necessary due to unexpected enrollment increases and that are used for not more than 2 years.

(5) If mutually agreed by the governing board and the local zoning authority, the time periods in subsection (4) may be extended.

(6) The communication required under subsection (4) between a governing board and a local zoning authority is for informational purposes only and does not require the governing board to make any changes in its site plan. Once the process prescribed under subsection (4) is complete, this section does not require any further interaction between the governing board and a local zoning authority.

(7) A local zoning authority shall not charge a governing board a fee for the process prescribed under subsection (4) that exceeds $250.00 for an administrative review or $1,500.00 for total costs incurred by a local zoning authority under subsection (4) for the specific project involved.

(8) As used in this section:

(a) "High school building" means any structure or facility that is used for instructional purposes, that offers at least 1 of grades 9 to 12, and that includes an athletic field or facility.

(b) "Local zoning authority" means the zoning authority for the jurisdiction in which the construction or expansion of a high school building is to occur.

History: 1976, Act 451, Imd. Eff. Jan. 13, 1977 ;-- Am. 1990, Act 159, Imd. Eff. July 2, 1990 ;-- Am. 2006, Act 276, Imd. Eff. July 7, 2006 Popular Name: Act 451