Substitute Senate Bill No. 333, known as Public Act No. 24-51, is a legislative act concerning local charter revisions, which will take effect on October 1, 2024. The bill stipulates that municipalities, as defined in section 7-401, must amend their municipal charters to modify the manner in which petitions are filed to challenge decisions of planning or zoning commissions. The modifications include the number of signatures required, the method of obtaining signatures, and residency or property ownership requirements for signatories. Additionally, the bill allows for the establishment of combined planning and zoning commissions or separate entities, with the stipulation that their composition must comply with sections 8-1 and 8-19 of the existing statutes.
The bill also addresses the vote requirements and public notice or hearing requirements for the processes of eminent domain and the disposition of municipal property. It includes a provision that municipalities which had adopted a vote requirement greater than a simple majority for these processes before July 1, 2023, may continue to enforce such a requirement, may reduce it provided it does not fall below a simple majority, and may not increase it except as provided in the specified subdivisions of the act. Insertions in the bill clarify the conditions under which municipal charters may be modified, while deletions remove the previous restrictions on such modifications.