Lawmakers Hear Zoning Board Renominations as Debate Over Bill to Suspend Zoning Continues

The House received gubernatorial renomination communications for two members of the Commonwealth Zoning Board on March 17, and members spent more than 45 minutes questioning the board’s chair about a draft bill that would suspend the zoning code and move zoning functions to the Department of Public Works.

Jean Ponteventi Regis, acting special assistant for administration in the Office of the Governor, introduced the governor’s communications and the nominations of Michael N. Evangelista for vice chair and Henry Hofschneider for chair of the Commonwealth Zoning Board. Regis said the governor and lieutenant governor asked the House for “expeditious approval.” No confirmation vote on the nominations was recorded in the transcript excerpt.

The matter drew immediate attention because Senators Corina Magoffna and Castro recently introduced Senate Bill 24-23, a proposal described by several speakers as a plan to suspend local zoning laws for five years and reorganize zoning under the Department of Public Works (DPW). Henry Hofschneider, the nominee and current chair of the Commonwealth Zoning Board, called the bill “offensive” and said he “disagree[s] with it entirely,” arguing that suspending the zoning code would leave no…