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<br />-8- <br /> <br />local home rule statutes, charters or constitutional provisions. <br />(See Chapter 12.) <br /> <br />. <br /> <br />13. Q. Do state wetland or floodplain regulation laws violate local <br />home rule powers? <br />A. Courts (to date) have universally upheld state floodplain and <br />wetland regulations as not violating local home rule powers. <br />Flooding and wetland protection have been considered of "greater <br />than local significance" and, therefore, not a matter of exclu- <br />sively local concern., (See Chapter 12.) <br /> <br />14. Q. Must comprehensive plans be adopted prior to adoption of flood- <br />plain or wetland regulations? <br />A. Although some zoning enabling acts require that zoning be "in <br />accordance with a comprehensive plan," no court has invalidated <br />floodplain or wetland zoning as not in accordance with such a plan. <br />In the context of more traditional zoning, courts have not demanded <br />strict compliance with comprehensive planning requirements. <br /> <br />. <br /> <br />15. Q. Must all floodplain or wetland landowners be regulated to <br />the same standard? <br />A. Courts have held that rules must be applied more or less uni- <br />formly to similarly situated individuals. One court invalidated <br />floodway restrictions applied to one side of a stream but not the <br />other. However, no court has ruled that identical floodplain or <br />wetland regulations must be applied to all uses or areas. Uses <br />and areas differ greatly in their susceptibility to flooding <br />threats and damage potential to other uses. Several courts have <br />sustained statutes applying one type of regulatory control to <br />coastal wetlands and another to inland areas or one type to one <br />wetland area along the coast and not to the other. No court has <br />held that all streams in a locality, region or state--or even all <br />reaches of a single stream--must be studied and regulated simul- <br /> <br />. <br />