Request By:
Bill Lammlein, La Grange City Council
Opinion
Opinion By: ANDY BESHEAR, ATTORNEY GENERAL; Marc G. Farris, Assistant Attorney General
Opinion of the Attorney General
You have requested an opinion of this Office concerning whether the Oldham County Fiscal Court must abide by the La Grange Central Historic District Guidelines and Ordinances. Specifically, you have explained that Oldham County owns a building within the Historic District known as "the PVA Building," and intends to renovate the building. You have asked whether the county is required to seek approval from the Historic District Commission, or follow its Guidelines, when renovating the property. As set forth below, the county is not required to comply with zoning regulations, and does not need the approval of the Historic District Commission. However, the county is required to submit its plans to the Commission, which may review them and offer suggestions.
KRS Chapter 100 authorizes cities or counties to create historic districts for the preservation of the historical character of a community. Specifically, KRS 100.203(1)(e) permits cities and counties to enact zoning restrictions regulating "(d)istricts of special interest to the proper development of the community, including, but not limited to exclusive use districts, historical districts, planned business districts . . . rehabilitation and conservation districts; planned neighborhood and group housing districts." If the city or county creates such a historical district, KRS 100.127(3) further permits the creation of historical district commissions to advise the city or county planning unit 1on the issuance of permits within these districts.
Pursuant to these statutes, the City of La Grange has enacted guidelines for land use within the historic district, and has created the La Grange Historic District Commission. See La Grange Historic District Guidelines: Information, Guidelines, and Procedures (revised June 12, 2007), available at https://www.lagrangeky.net/uploads/1/5/8/9/15892188/lhdcguidelines_2007… (last visited August 21, 2019).
However, the Commonwealth and its political subdivisions - including its counties - are not subject to zoning restrictions enacted by local planning units under KRS Chapter 100. KRS 100.361(2) directly addresses this issue and provides, in pertinent part:
Nothing in this chapter shall impair the sovereignty of the Commonwealth of Kentucky over its political subdivisions. Any proposal affecting land use by any department, commission, board, authority, agency, or instrumentality of state government shall not require approval of the local planning unit. However, adequate information concerning the proposals shall be furnished to the planning commission by the department, commission, board, authority, agency, or instrumentality of state government.
Construing this statute, the Court of Appeals has held that a "city or county is an instrumentality of state government, and as such, is immune from complying with zoning regulations." City of Louisville Bd. of Zoning Adjustment v. Gailor , 920 S.W.2d 887, 888 (Ky. App. 1996) (quoting Edelen v. Nelson County , 723 S.W.2d 887, 889 (Ky. App. 1987)); see also OAG 84-146 (concluding that the statutory immunity means that a "city does not have to seek the approval of the local planning unit in connection with the operation of its landspreading activity on land it has leased from a private person").
In Gailor , the Court of Appeals held that the Jefferson County Fiscal Court was not required to comply with zoning restrictions enacted by the City of Louisville when constructing a local jail. 920 S.W.2d at 888. Similarly, in Edelen , the Court of Appeals held that the local zoning regulations did not apply to the Nelson County Fiscal Court's construction of a jail "because in Kentucky counties have been given a legislative grant of immunity" from local zoning regulations. 723 S.W.2d at 889.
Thus, under the plain text of the statute, the Commonwealth and its political subdivisions - including counties - do not require the approval of commissions created under KRS Chapter 100, including historic district commissions. Similarly, the Commonwealth and its political subdivisions need not comply with zoning regulations enacted under KRS Chapter 100, including those restricting land use within a historical district.
While the statute grants broad immunity to the state or instrumentality, it also imposes a duty on the state or instrumentality to provide information to the local planning unit. Specifically, KRS 100.361(2) provides that "adequate information concerning the proposals shall be furnished to the planning commission by the department, commission, board, authority, agency, or instrumentality of state government." The statute does not define "adequate information," but the Court of Appeals has construed the statute to "require submission of the proposal to the local planning commission which may review and offer suggestions." Gailor , 920 S.W.2d at 888.
In this case, the Oldham County Fiscal Court must provide to the La Grange Historic District Commission information concerning the changes the county intends to make to the PVA Building (or any other building within the historic district). The Historic District Commission may then make recommendations to the county. Ultimately, however, the Oldham County Fiscal Court is not obligated to comply with those recommendations, or to comply with the zoning regulations themselves.
Footnotes
Footnotes