Effective 28 Aug 2018

135.210. Designation as enterprise zone, procedure — maximum number, exceptions — report required from all zones — cancellation of zone, procedure. — 1. Any governing authority which desires to have any portion of a city or unincorporated area of a county under its control designated as an enterprise zone shall hold a public hearing for the purpose of obtaining the opinion and suggestions of those persons who will be affected by such designation. The governing authority shall notify the director of such hearing at least thirty days prior thereto and shall publish notice of such hearing in a newspaper of general circulation in the area to be affected by such designation at least twenty days prior to the date of the hearing but not more than thirty days prior to such hearing. Such notice shall state the time, location, date and purpose of the hearing. The director, or the director's designee, shall attend such hearing.

2. After a public hearing is held as required in subsection 1 of this section, the governing authority may file a petition with the department requesting the designation of a specific area as an enterprise zone. Such petition shall include, in addition to a description of the physical, social, and economic characteristics of the area:

(1) A plan to provide adequate police protection within the area;

(2) A specific and practical process for individual businesses to obtain waivers from burdensome local regulations, ordinances, and orders which serve to discourage economic development within the area to be designated an enterprise zone; except that, such waivers shall not substantially endanger the health or safety of the employees of any such business or the residents of the area;

(3) A description of what other specific actions will be taken to support and encourage private investment within the area;

(4) A plan to ensure that resources are available to assist area residents to participate in increased development through self-help efforts and in ameliorating any negative effects of designation of the area as an enterprise zone;

(5) A statement describing the projected positive and negative effects of designation of the area as an enterprise zone; and

(6) A specific plan to provide assistance to any person or business dislocated as a result of activities within the zone. Such plan shall determine the need of dislocated persons for relocation assistance; provide, prior to displacement, information about the type, location and price of comparable housing or commercial property; provide information concerning state and federal programs for relocation assistance and provide other advisory services to displaced persons. Public agencies may choose to provide assistance under the Uniform Relocation and Real Property Acquisition Act, 42 U.S.C. Section 4601, et seq. to meet the requirements of this subdivision.

3. No more than fifty such areas may be designated by the director as an enterprise zone under the provisions of this subsection, except that any enterprise zones authorized apart from this subsection by specific legislative enactment, on or after August 28, 1991, shall not be counted toward the limitation set forth in this subsection. After fifty enterprise zones, plus any others authorized apart from this subsection by specific legislative enactment first designated on or after August 28, 1991, have been designated by the director, additional enterprise zones may be authorized apart from this subsection by specific legislative enactment, except that if an enterprise zone designation is cancelled under the provision of subsection 4 of this section, the director may designate one area as an enterprise zone for each enterprise zone designation which is cancelled.

4. Each designated enterprise zone or satellite zone must report to the director on an annual basis regarding the status of the zone and business activity within the zone. On the fifth anniversary of the designation of each zone after August 8, 1989, and each five years thereafter, the director shall evaluate the activity which has occurred within the zone during the previous five-year period, including business investments and the creation of new jobs. If the director finds that the plan outlined in the application for designation was not implemented in good faith, or if such zone no longer qualifies under the original criteria, or if the director finds that the zone is not being effectively promoted or developed, the director may recommend that the designation of that area as an enterprise zone be cancelled. All agreements negotiated under the benefits of such zone shall remain in effect for the originally agreed upon duration. The director shall schedule a hearing on such recommendation for not later than sixty days after the recommendation is filed with it. At the hearing, interested parties, including the director, may present witnesses and evidence as to why the enterprise zone designation for that particular area should be continued or cancelled. Within thirty days after the hearing, the director shall determine whether or not the designation should be continued. If it is not continued, the director shall remove the designation from the area and, following the procedures outlined in this section, award the designation of an enterprise zone to another applicant. If an area has requested a designated enterprise zone, and met all existing statutory requirements, but has not been designated such, then the applicant may appeal for a hearing to determine its eligibility for such a designation.

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(L. 1982 H.B. 1713, et al. § 4, A.L. 1983 H.B. 559, A.L. 1985 H.B. 416, A.L. 1986 S.B. 727, A.L. 1989 S.B. 59, A.L. 1991 H.B. 294 & 405 merged with S.B. 289, A.L. 1995 H.B. 414, A.L. 2018 S.B. 975 & 1024 Revision)