Section 16a-4c - Redesignation of planning regions by the secretary. Procedure. Voluntary consolidation(a) On or before January 1, 2014, and at least every twenty years thereafter, the Secretary of the Office of Policy and Management, within available appropriations, and in consultation with regional planning organizations, as defined in section 4-124i, the Connecticut Conference of Municipalities, the Connecticut Council of Small Towns, the Commissioner of Transportation and the chairpersons and ranking members of the joint standing committee of the General Assembly having cognizance of matters relating to planning and development, shall conduct an analysis of the boundaries of logical planning regions designated or redesignated under section 16a-4a. As part of such analysis, the secretary shall evaluate opportunities for coordinated planning and the regional delivery of state and local services. Such analysis shall include, but not be limited to, an evaluation of (1) economic regions, including regional economic development districts established pursuant to chapter 588ff; (2) comprehensive economic development strategies developed by such regional economic development districts; (3) labor market areas and workforce investment regions; (4) natural boundaries, including watersheds, coastlines, ecosystems and habitats; (5) relationships between urban, suburban and rural areas, including central cities and areas outside of the state; (6) census and other demographic information, including areas in the state designated by the United States Census Bureau as urbanized areas and urbanized clusters; (7) political boundaries, including municipal boundaries and congressional, senate and assembly districts; (8) transportation corridors, connectivity and boundaries, including the boundaries of metropolitan planning agencies; (9) current federal, state and municipal service delivery regions, including, but not limited to, regions established to provide emergency, health, transportation or human services; and (10) the current capacity of each regional planning organization to deliver diverse state and local services and to comply with the requirements of any relevant federal transportation authorizing acts. Such analysis shall also establish a minimum size for logical planning areas that takes into consideration the number of municipalities, total population, total square mileage and whether a proposed planning region will have the capacity to successfully deliver sophisticated planning activities and regional services. Such analysis shall consider designating rural regions in areas of the state that do not have urbanized areas. The secretary may enter into such contractual agreements as may be necessary to carry out the purposes of this subsection. On or before October 1, 2013, said secretary shall submit a report, in accordance with section 11-4a, to the joint standing committee of the General Assembly having cognizance of matters concerning planning and development. Such report shall provide the status of the analysis required pursuant to this subsection.(b) Any two or more contiguous planning regions that contain a total of fourteen or more municipalities and voluntarily consolidate to form a single planning region shall be exempt from redesignation pursuant to subsection (a) of this section, provided the Secretary of the Office of Policy and Management formally redesignates such planning regions prior to January 1, 2014. The secretary may, in his or her discretion, waive the requirement that such redesignated planning region contain a total of fourteen or more municipalities.(c)(1) The secretary shall, not later than January 1, 2014, notify the chief executive officer of each municipality located in a planning region in which the boundaries are proposed for redesignation. If the legislative body of the municipality objects to such proposed redesignation, the chief executive officer of the municipality may, not later than thirty days after the date of receipt of the notice of redesignation, petition the secretary to attend a meeting of such legislative body. The petition shall specify the location, date and time of the meeting. The meeting shall be held not later than sixty days after the date of the petition. The secretary shall make a reasonable attempt to appear at the meeting, or at a meeting on another date within the sixty-day period. If the secretary is unable to attend a meeting within the sixty-day period, the secretary and the chief executive officer of the municipality shall jointly schedule a date and time for the meeting, provided such meeting shall be held not later than two hundred ten days after the date of the notice to the chief executive officer. At such meeting, the legislative body of the municipality shall inform the secretary of the objections to the proposed redesignation of the planning area boundaries. The secretary shall consider fully the oral and written objections of the legislative body and may redesignate the boundaries. Not later than sixty days after the date of the meeting, the secretary shall notify the chief executive officer of the determination concerning the proposed redesignation. The notice of determination shall include the reasons for such determination. As used in this subsection, "municipality" means a town, city or consolidated town and borough; "legislative body" means the board of selectmen, town council, city council, board of alderman, board of directors, board of representatives or board of the warden and burgesses of a municipality; and "secretary" means the Secretary of the Office of Policy and Management or the designee of the secretary.(2) Any revision to the boundaries of a planning area, based on the analysis completed pursuant to subsection (a) of this section or due to a modification by the secretary in accordance with this subsection, shall be effective on January 1, 2015.Conn. Gen. Stat. § 16a-4c
( P.A. 08-182, S. 9; P.A. 10-32, S. 56; June 12 Sp. Sess. P.A. 12-1, S. 189; P.A. 13-247, S. 249.)