9-0815 - Request for comment on local laws or ordinances pertaining to the practice of forestry.
§ 9-0815. Request for comment on local laws or ordinances pertaining to the practice of forestry. The commissioner upon his or her own initiative, or upon the written request of a municipality or an owner of forest land within the municipality, may elect to comment upon a proposed local law or ordinance which may restrict the practice of forestry. The requesting municipality or owner of forest land shall provide, at a minimum, the full text of the proposed local law or ordinance to the commissioner with such request. 1. Upon receipt of such written request or upon the commissioner's determination to comment on a local law or ordinance, the commissioner shall notify the municipal legislative body, in writing, of the receipt date or the date of such determination. 2. An owner of forest land shall provide notice to the municipal legislative body proposing the local law or ordinance of a written request to the commissioner in the time, manner, and form as may be prescribed by the commissioner. 3. The commissioner, in preparing his or her comments for consideration by the municipality, may consider factors including, but not limited to, the impact of the proposed local law or ordinance upon the long-term viability of forests in the municipality and any modifications or alternatives which a municipality may undertake to minimize the impacts to the practice of forestry in preparing his or her comments. 4. The commissioner shall have forty-five days after receipt of an ordinance to provide his or her comments, if any, to the municipal legislative body proposing the law or ordinance. Any municipal legislative body shall defer the adoption of such local law or ordinance pending receipt of comments, if any, from the commissioner or the passage of forty-five days from the date of receipt of the proposed local law or ordinance by the commissioner. The commissioner shall have the opportunity to respond only to the original proposal considered by the local governing body. 5. For purposes of this section, "forest land" shall mean land that is suitable to forest crop production.